ISLAMABAD - From the ashes of crushing defeat of both Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamaat-e-Islami at the hands of Muttahida Qoumi Movement in the Karachi by-polls, there are chances of realignment of political parties and formation of new political alliances for the upcoming Gilgit-Baltistan and local bodies' elections across the country.
In the NA-246 by-polls interesting political alignment of the mainstream parties was seen as the coalition partners in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamaat-e-Islami, contested against each other and faced a crushing defeat despite serious efforts.
Majlis-e-Wadahatul Muslameen (MWM), Karachi chapter, extended support to the PTI candidate in NA-246. On the other hand, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl extended support to the Jamaat-e-Islami candidate.
Though the support of these parties for the PTI and JI candidates was of little significance, they are eying reaping its benefits in future, commented a Jamaat-e-Islami leader.
However, the JI leader dispelled the impression of any negative impact of vying against each other's candidate in Karachi on the PTI-JI coalition government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, adding the electoral alliance of PTI, JI and AJIP for the upcoming local bodies’ elections is intact.
Sources in JUI-F said they wanted to have good working relations with JI and the support extended to its candidate in the NA-246 by-polls was just to convey their good intentions to the party. They are not eying any future alliance or benefit from all this, the sources said.
When asked about the JUI-F desire to revive MMA, he said they genuinely wanted to restore the religious parties’ alliance and have been working on it and using other platforms and means.
On the other hand, the PML-N support to the JI candidate was managed by Jamaat-e-Islami central leader Liaquat Baloch and others from the Punjab, who considered the PML-N their natural ally in the plains of the Punjab, a Jamaat leader said, adding negotiations between his party and PML-N for to forge alliance in the upcoming local bodies’ elections are underway.
The JI sources said the PML-N leadership was not comfortable with the growing popularity of PTI in the province and wanted some push and support which only JI could provide to it in making the winning combination in the local bodies’ elections to be held on the party basis, another matter of concern for PML-N.
Political analysts see the alignment of Majlis-e-Wahadatul Muslameen with PTI a move at forging alliance with the party in the upcoming Gilgit-Baltistan elections, where MWM with the support of PTI could clinch a sizeable number of seats.