LAHORE, Dec 26: The PML-N has rejected a Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) formula for fielding joint candidates in the by-elections.
Punjab PML-N president Sardar Zulfikar Khosa called on MMA parliamentary leader Qazi Husain Ahmad in Mansoora here on Thursday and conveyed to him the party decision.
A couple of days ago, Qazi Husain contacted exiled PML-N patron Nawaz Sharif by phone and offered that both the parties should keep one of the two provincial assembly constituencies (PP-142, PP-147) in Lahore for which bypolls would be held on Jan 15.
Mr Sharif had said he would respond to this offer after discussing it with the local party leadership.
The PML-N has put up Inamullah Khan Niazi and Zaeem Husain Qadri while the MMA has fielded Ziauddin Ansari and Amirul Azeem for PP-142 and PP-147, respectively.
The PPP has already announced that it would support PML-N nominees in the bypolls.
Meanwhile, Qazi Husain Ahmad inaugurated the central election office of Amirul Azeem on Egerton Road on Thursday.
Speaking on the occasion, he said the first bypolls after the Oct 10 general election would show the public reaction to MMA’s policies.
He urged the masses to vote for the MMA if they wanted to avenge the insult that Dr Khwaja Ahmad Javed had to face at the hands of the FBI.
He said the establishment did not allow the religious forces to unite on a single platform well in time in the Punjab due to which the MMA could not show positive results in the province on Oct 10. Moreover, he said the masses were given an impression that the MMA could not win the polls and voting for it would mean wasting one’s ballot.
This impression hurt the six-party religious alliance but its success in NWFP and Balochistan had shown that the MMA was a force to be reckoned with, he said.
He said the MMA was offered ministries and other incentives for its support for PML-Q’s federal government, but it refused to accept the offer, which, he claimed, would have undermined the supremacy of parliament and the constitution. He said the MMA would not give Zafarullah Jamali the vote of confidence on Dec 30. The MMA supreme council had taken a clear stance in this regard, which would not be changed at any cost, he said.
He said the MMA would be the single largest party in the Senate where legislation would not be possible without its support.
He criticized the FBI raid in Lahore and termed it negation of country’s sovereignty.
MNA Hafiz Salman Butt warned the PML-N that it would suffer a similar defeat in the bypolls as it had in the general election if it did not come to terms with the MMA. He reminded the Leaguers that they had given five PA seats to the MMA against their promise of seven in the general election. Now, it should surrender at least one more seat to the alliance, he added.
Amirul Azeem said the MMA was taking part in the polls to achieve its objectives and not to benefit any individual.