PPP, PML-N decide to contest together in Punjab by-election

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have decided to jointly contest the Punjab by-election which will be held on vacant seats of the Punjab Assembly (PA) next month.

Punjab minister Attauallah Tarar confirmed the development to Dawn, saying, “The PML-N and PPP leadership agreed to jointly contest by-polls on 20 Punjab Assembly seats.”

Earlier, PPP’s Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari and Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Hamza Shehbaz met on Tuesday in which other members of the parties also participated. The decision reportedly took place during the meeting.

Zardari congratulated Hamza on assuming the CM’s office. According to The News, the two parties also discussed other issues related to cabinet expansion in Punjab and federal, water issues, petroleum prices, and the upcoming budget. Moreover, Zardari held a meeting to sort out his party’s differences with PML-N over desired ministries in Punjab.

Currently, PPP has seven seats in the Punjab Assembly (PA) and they were promised four ministries and two adviserships. However, in the Punjab Cabinet, there are only two members of PPP, but they are inactive due to non-allocation of their portfolios.

The polls will be on 20 vacant seats of the PA on July 17. The seats are vacant due to the disqualification of PTI’s Members of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) who switched sides and voted for Hamza as CM.

It is pertinent to mention that out of the 20 seats, eight are from southern Punjab where the PPP has a strong foothold.