ISLAMABAD, March 1: Punjab faction of the PPP Patriots, led by senior minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal, is all set to merge with the ruling PML.

An announcement to this affect will be made at a news conference at the Prime Minister House here on Friday in the presence of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.

However, the NWFP faction of the PPP Patriots, led by Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, will only forge an electoral alliance with the ruling party in the province.

Chaudhry Shujaat held a meeting with Mr Sherpao at his residence on Thursday and invited him to join the ruling party. However, Mr Sherpao reiterated that his faction would like to maintain its separate status in the province.

He said he would only make seat adjustments with the PML in the Frontier province.

He assured Chaudhry Shujaat that his party would continue to support the ruling coalition even after the elections.

After the meeting, Chaudhry Shujaat confirmed to the media that the PPP Patriots faction, led by Mr Rao, would announce its merger with the PML at a news conference on Friday.

He expressed dismay over what he termed misuse of the term ‘enlightened moderation’ for spreading obscenity and immoral practices.

To a query, he said Mr Rao and his colleagues would join the PML without any preconditions.

Earlier there were reports that Mr Rao – who leads a 17-member group of legislators from Punjab – would be appointed as senior vice-president of the PML like Farooq Leghari, Ejazul Haq and Manzoor Wattoo who had merged their parties with the ruling party.

Informed sources said that President Pervez Musharraf had assured the Rao group of fair play in case of merger.

At the press conference scheduled for today, Mr Rao is expected to be accompanied by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, Faisal Saleh Hayat, Noraiz Shakoor, Raza Hayat Hirraj and others.

Two MNAs from the Rao group, Rais Munir Ahmed and Syed Tanveer Hussain, have already joined the PML.