Seat adjustment between PPP, PML-N 'a likely possibility', says PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi

Lahore [Pakistan], June 30 : Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Faisal Karim Kundi said on Wednesday that seat adjustment with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was a likely possibility, reported The Express Tribune. He said as the top-most leaders of the two major political parties met in Dubai.

The minister of state for poverty alleviation, Kundi said that that the shape of any future alliance with the PML-N or other political players depended purely on the outcome of the coming general elections.

Dubai had taken the centre stage in the Pakistani politics after heads of both the leading parties in the coalition government converged on the cosmopolitan oasis just ahead of Eidul Azha, which was celebertated on Thursday in Pakistan.

They included PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif, who flew in to Dubai from London, his daughter and Senior Vice President of PML-N Maryam Nawaz, besides PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his father PPP Co-chairman Asif Zardari, according to The Express Tribune.

According to a political leader, who is familiar with the developments, two meetings had taken place between the PML-N and the PPP leadership.

"Both meetings were attended by all the four leaders," he said. In these meetings, a wide range of the issues surrounding the next set-up, elections and other challenges confronting Pakistan were discussed, he added.

Many political experts and politicians also speculate that the motive behind Dubai meetings were to forge an electoral alliance. Whereas, some others suggest that the rendezvous was to decide how to limit the role of establishment in process, according to The Express Tribune.

Kundi, the PPP spokesperson, said that Zardari had returned to Karachi from Dubai and he would be leaving for Nawabshah for Eid, whereas Bilawal might stay in Dubai for some time and leave for the US and Japan tour from there.

He further commented on the Dubai talks and said that there was no official engagement between the two party leaderships, though the meetings were held unofficially, but these were nothing out of the ordinary, reported The Express Tribune.

He added that Zardari's frequent visits to Dubai were meant for his eye treatment. As these were not party-to-party contacts, he was not aware of the discussion that had taken place or any subsequent decision.

Later, when asked about the talk of seat adjustment between the two parties, he said that it could be a possibility, but "that too is subjected to the decision" of the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC). "Let elections take place and see polls position," he added," as per The Express Tribune.

Kundi believed that any future alliance between the two parties cannot be predicted at this stage.

The source also seconded the view that an election alliance was out of the question at this stage, though the option of seat adjustment was being mulled over.

"There is this issue about when the elections should take place, that needs to be decided by them," the source said, adding that the PPP firmly held the view that elections should either be held in October or in November, as per guidelines of the Constitution.

However, the opinion in the PML-N seems divided. One section wanted the elctions to be delayed till atleast until February and asked whether the PML-N was waiting for a new chief justice and that their expectations were "unrealistically high," sources said, according to The Express Tribune.

The sources also said that it had been decided that the PPP would propose one candidate for the post of caretaker Prime Minister.