ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which is not in a position to win a single seat independently in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, may emerge as the real dark horse in the upcoming Senate elections in the province, political pundits having eye on the current political manoeuvring believe. A well-placed source in the party informed The News that the party leadership is in contact with the opposition parties in the province as well as its leadership is also in contact with the parliamentarians from the ruling party individually. Keeping its negotiation with the opposition parties and individuals and numbers in view, the party awarded tickets to three candidates in the province, he commented. The PPP has awarded Senate tickets to ex-MNA Noor Alam Khan, Khanzada Khan and Humayun Khan, whereas if the Upper House elections are held fairly, the PPP could not even get a single seat in the province. The source informed that the leadership of all opposition parties have proposed distributing one seat each as five parties are sitting on the opposition benches. However, the PPP leadership is also negotiating with independent members of the assembly as well as few parliamentarians have contacted the party leadership. Majority of the MPAs from the ruling party are not happy with the overall attitude of their party leadership as well as the performance of the provincial government. They believe they will have to face the people again at the time of elections therefore they believe that the PPP is the only party whose roots are in the masses and they are willing to support the party in the coming Senate elections. Another source in the PTI informed The News on condition of anonymity that many parliamentarians have reservations with the party leadership and many of their members are in contact with the other parties as well as few of them have assured their support to some independent candidates. He said two members of Waqar Khan family are contesting the Senate elections independently this time, whereas their proposer and seconders both would be the members of PTI who have assured them their full support. He informed that the PTI may face trouble at the time of elections if it took no remedial measures and satisfied the disgruntled members of the party. It is pertinent to mention here that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly is comprised of 125 members out of which PTI is on the top with 56 members, whereas the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), who are on the opposition benches, have 17 members each, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) have 10 seats, Jamaat-e-Islami eight, PPP, Awami Jamhoori Ittehad and Awami National Party each have five seats, whereas two independent members are part of the ruling coalition. Each party requires 11 or 12 members in the provincial assembly at least to win a single seat in the Senate.
