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Friday March 29, 2024

KP, Balochistan assemblies may be dissolved

Horse-trading in Senate polls

By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir
March 02, 2015
ISLAMABAD: Horse-trading in the next week’s Senate polls could lead to dissolution of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan assemblies.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan is prepared to go to any extent for stopping the horse-trading while National Party (NP) leader Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo and Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch are also determined to dispatch the assembly if its members fail in respecting the democratic traits.
These views have been expressed by political observers who are closely watching the developments related to the upcoming elections of 52 Senate seats.
Meanwhile, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) chief Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao has revealed that Maulana Fazlur Rehman has nominated three billionaire candidates; one each on minority, technocrat and general seat and likewise the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has also fielded four candidates while having six seats in the provincial assembly and those candidates will be funded by someone.
One can assess the outcome of the polls and trends prevailing in it. In a brief chat, a soft spoken leader from the KP who had also served as chief minister of his province and interior minister of the country said that the situation was crystal clear.
“I don’t think that the PML-N would be able to bag a seat of Senate from the KP.” He said he talked to the leadership of the PML-N including Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif well before the announcement of the schedule of the election that the opposition should evolve a common strategy and all the five opposition parties should share one seat each. The Punjab chief minister agreed to talk to him after discussing the proposal with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif but he didn’t contact him, he said.
The PML-N contacted him when things had already slipped out of hand. At one stage, KP Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak was also prepared to join the sharing formula. “My proposal couldn’t get due attention and as a result, the situation has become obviously difficult for fair play.”
Aftab Sherpao’s QWP has 10 members in the provincial assembly and he has fielded two candidates for the contest but he said that he was not certain about the results.Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao maintained that he had no plan to join the alliance of Maulana Fazl and former president Asif Zardari.