LAHORE: Amid rising political rivalries ahead of elections, PML-N leader Khawaja Asif on Tuesday extended an olive branch, of sorts, to all political parties, asking them to sit together to put an end to ‘serious polarisation’ faced by the country.

“Society is facing serious polarisation. There has been political unrest in the society…time has come that all should sit together to bridge up this polarisation,” PML-N senior leader Khawaja Asif said in Model Town on Tuesday.

The former lawmaker proposed that after the election, the government should be formed after a ‘national consensus’. After the elections, even the political rivals can become allies in the government, he said.

Speaking about potential election alliances, PML-N leader Javed Latif declared his party would not enter a seat adjustment agreement with the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party led by Jehangir Tareen and the PML-Q of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.

Mr Latif also demanded stern punishment for the May 9 suspects and said they should not be granted a pardon. He also demanded an investigation into the PTI’s claim that nomination papers from its candidates had been snatched.

‘Not afraid of bat’

Another PML-N leader Talal Chaudhry said his party was not afraid of the PTI election symbol ‘bat’ and its holder. “If the general elections are facing any threat, it is from the PTI’s fake narrative and its applications to the courts,” he claimed. According to the PML-N leader, the PTI’s petitions in the courts might cause a delay in the polls.

He said he welcomed PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s move to contest polls from Lahore. “But I ask him why is there no metro and orange line trains in Karachi?” he said.

To a question whether he was being given a ticket from his Jaranwala home constituency, Talal Chaudhry said: “I have applied for one party ticket and a decision in this regard has yet to be taken.”

Being part of the Maryam Nawaz group, the party chief organiser is reportedly supporting Talal Chaudhry, while the party president is endorsing Malik Nawab Sher Waseer, a former MNA who defected from the PTI.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2023