Opposition fails to reach consensus on Senate tickets

PESHAWAR: The combined opposition in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday failed to build consensus on Senate tickets as their meetings remained inconclusive with regard to finalising candidates for the March 5 Senate elections.
A meeting of all the five opposition parties, including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) was held at the opposition chamber in the provincial assembly.
The meeting was attended by JUI-F’s Maulana Lutufur Rahman and Maulana Attaur Rahman, ANP’s Senator Haji Muhammad Adeel, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Sardar Hussain Babak and Jaffar Shah, QWP’s Sikandar Sherpao, PML-N’s Aurangzaib Nalotha, and Javed Abbasi, and PPP’s Nighat Orakzai and Muhammad Ali Shah Bacha.
The deadlock persisted even after the hours-long deliberations. It was decided to hold another session of the meeting later in the evening. As the representatives of the PML-N and QWP did not attend the evening meeting, it was decided to hold another sitting today (Tuesday).
Talking to reporters after the meeting, opposition leader Maulana Lutfur Rahman said that so far the joint opposition had failed to adopt a joint strategy. However, he said there was some progress and another meeting would be held to decide the issue.
He said the leaders of PML-N and QWP had to make consultation with senior leadership of their respective parties.Sources told The News that the JUI-F and PML-N impeded finalisation of the candidates’ list. Both the parties wanted two seats each, while the other parties which have lesser representation in the provincial assembly stressed the need for one berth for each of the five opposition parties.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain, while talking to media, said that different proposals came under discussion in the marathon meeting but they failed to reach a final decision. He said more meetings would be held to reach consensus. He was of the opinion that the best solution for all the parties was that each one should be allotted one Senate seat.
He said the ANP was interested in fielding candidate for the reserved seat for technocrats. “However, if the allied parties wanted the ANP to contest for the women’s seat, we would accept the proposal,” he added.He made it clear that all those were the options being discussed and the final decision was yet to be made.