ISLAMABAD, Nov 19: The proposed merger of the Pakistan People’s Party (Sherpao) and Patriots has been postponed.

An official announcement on Wednesday said: “The proposed merger of the PPP-S and Patriots has been postponed for the time being, because many senior members of both the parties are out of the country.”

However, sources told Dawn that the decision had been taken by top leaders of the two groups due to some “technical and legal” aspects regarding registration of the new party.

The official announcement, issued by the Press Information Department (PID) of the government, stated that both the groups had decided that formal announcement of the merger would be made after Eid.