LAHORE: The Punjab capital will be the hub of political activities on Monday (today) as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) — which are going to represent the opposition’s voice in the coming National Assembly — are separately holding their meetings in the city to discuss national and provincial political scene and available options for moving forward.

The PML-N’s central executive committee will be meeting for the first time after July 25 elections. Party president Shahbaz Sharif will brief the body about the decisions taken by the multi-party conference (MPC) on fielding joint candidates for the offices of prime minister, National Assembly speaker and deputy speaker as well as looking out for ways and means to win support of independent MPAs-elect for the slots of Punjab chief minister and the provincial assembly’s speaker and deputy speaker.

Former’s central executive committee to discuss multi-party conference decisions; latter’s ticket holders will ponder over party’s poor show in Punjab

A senior PML-N office-bearer says that the MPC held in Islamabad the other day insisted that instead of putting forward any other nominee of the party, Shahbaz Sharif himself should be the candidate for the PM office to ensure a good contest against PTI chief Imran Khan. And Mr Sharif would discuss the gains the N-League could make or political loss it could face from the contest, he adds.

The PML-N leader says that the “elders” would also devise a policy line on how to negotiate with MPC members on launching joint candidates for the office of president of the country as well as chairman and deputy chairman of Senate.

The PPP has also convened a meeting of its ticket holders for National Assembly and the provincial assembly from central Punjab. In the first such sitting since the election, the participants will share their experiences and views on the reasons that led to almost complete rout of the party in the region as except for one NA and PA seat each, it has lost in all the constituencies and could not even become runner-up in most of these constituencies.

The meeting will be presided over by Qamar Zaman Kaira, the president of the PPP’s Punjab chapter.

The PPP has declared in categorical terms that it will sit on opposition benches in Punjab and won’t support the PML-N in its efforts for forming government in the largest province of Pakistan. The PPP has won only six seats of Punjab Assembly.

A party leader claims that four of the party MPAs-elect who have been elected from Rahim Yar Khan are staunchly opposed to any cooperation with the PML-N in Punjab Assembly. They are doing so in revenge as the PML-N had stopped the PPP from installing its district council chairman in Rahim Yar Khan in 2015 though the latter enjoyed support of 81 union council chairmen against 42 of the N-League.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2018