GUJRAT: The opposition parties did achieve success in the recently held Senate election but they will go for an alliance in the general election only if the ruling PML-N stays intact, says senior PPP leader Tanveer Ashraf Kaira.

“If the ruling party survives desertions by its lawmakers in Punjab ahead of the general election, such a cooperation between the opposition parties is possible to challenge the PML-N,” he told Dawn.

Currently, he said, the opposition parties such as the PPP, the PTI and the PML-Q were engaged in discussions on the matter of forging an alliance.

There’s also a possibility, he said, that the PPP and the PTI in case of having a sizeable number of lawmakers in the next parliament may agree on a “third person” for the post of premier and form a coalition government in the Center.

He said the second tier leadership of the PPP and PTI had talked about the possibilities of electoral cooperation but any such decision would be made in accordance with the situation at the time of elections, said the former provincial finance minister, who also expressed his apprehension about possible delay in the polls (July 15 has been announced) due to delimitation issues.

He said the PPP had gained maximum benefit in the Senate elections by getting the slot of deputy chairman and party’s candidate is favourite to become the opposition leader.

“Had the PML-N not recommended the name of Raza Rabbani for the Senate chairman slot, he would have been the choice of Asif Ali Zardari. Mr Zardari made it crystal clear that the PPP has no interest in saving the sinking ship of the PML-N due to the latter’s wrong policies,” he said.

In an obvious reference to the PML-N’s policy, Mr Kaira said one could not survive by adopting the policy of confrontation with the state institutions.

He said for the time being the party chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, was not interested in any electoral alliance. Mr Zardari, he said, had not imposed his decisions on the party and always tried to convince the chairman and others through arguments.

He said there was an anti-PPP sentiment in Punjab during the 2013 general election because of loadshedding and seat adjustments with the PML-Q but now the party had steered itself out of the critical situation and would be in a much better position in Punjab in the 2018 elections.

In his view, the corruption cases against the PML-N would adversely affect its performance in the polls.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2018