GUJRAT: Some parties may go for seat adjustments at the union council and ward level in Gujrat as the PPP and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) have geared up consultations on how to face the ruling PML-N.

The Punjab chapter of the PPP has constituted the District Selection Board (DSB) headed by former MNA Sameena Mushtaq Pagganwala and tehsil level boards that will make recommendations to the district board for the issuance of party tickets to potential candidates.

The party leadership has authorised the DSB to make final decision regarding the issuance of party tickets besides taking decision about seat adjustments.

Sources told Dawn that the board would have to take the provincial leadership into confidence before striking seat-adjustment deals with any other party as directed by party’s provincial president Manzoor Wattoo at a recent meeting in Lahore. The meeting was attended by the district and tehsil presidents.

The PPP had been the main rival of the PML-Q in the local government politics of Gujrat for the last more than four decades. The situation may change this time round as the Nawabzada family that would previously contest from the PPP platform is now part of the PML-N and only Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali Gull (of the family) is still a PPP loyalist.

The district chapter of JI also announced seat adjustments at the local level for which a consultative meeting of its political committee was held, with district emir Dr Tariq Saleem in the chair.

Sources said the JI meeting had decided to go for seat adjustments at the union council and ward level rather than making such deals at the district level.

The JI had been part of a district-level alliance with the PPP in the last three local elections of 1998, 2001 and 2005. The PML-N too had been part of electoral alliance with the PPP during the 2001 and 2005 local government polls but this three-party alliance could not win the district nazim election though it won the Kharian tehsil nazim slot both times.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2015

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