PML-N’s Javed Latif says his party will field candidates against PPP leaders at all levels n MQM-P withdraws candidate against Shehbaz in Karachi as part of seat adjustment.

LAHORE/KARACHI  -  Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of any seat adjustment with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of the general elections to be held on February 8.

“There will be no seat adjustment with PPP at any level,” claims senior PML-N leader Mian Javed Latif. While addressing a press conference, Javed Latif who is considered close to the party’s Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz said straightforwardly that his party would field candidates against PPP leaders at all levels.

His remarks came just a few days after PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari repeatedly lashed out at PML-N leaders while addressing corner meeting in Lahore, saying that the city belongs to PPP.

Also Javed Latif said that the party’s officebearers were holding corner meetings in their respective constituencies, adding that the former ruling party’s central leadership would kick-start electioneering in a day or two. “I [also] think we should go solo in upcoming Punjab polls.” Lauding courts, the PML-N leader sought punishments for those involved in the May 9 riots ahead of the upcoming elections in the country. The PPP and the PML-N were the main allies in the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led regime that ruled the country after the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan via a vote of no-confidence for around 16 months. Claiming that the incarcerated PTI founder was being facilitated, the PML-N leader said that Imran Khan had threatened the ECP members.

Meanwhile, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) entered seat adjustment with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for three National Assembly (NA) constituencies, including NA-242, where the former ruling party is fielding ex-prime minister Shehbaz Sharif. 

The PML-N president was cleared by the election tribunal to contest upcoming general elections, slated to take place on February 8, from district Keamari of Karachi, which was once a stronghold of MQM-P. Reportedly, apart from Shehbaz, PML-N will field its candidates on five NA seats — including NA-229, 230, and 239 — as well as 11 provincial assembly seats within these constituencies. Meanwhile, the MQM-P candidates would contest polls for the national and provincial assembly seats from Malir’s NA-231 constituency, they said. 

The Karachi-based party will field its candidates on the provincial seats within the NA-242 constituency The PML-N would also contest for NA seats in Mirpurkhas, Nawabshah, and Sukkur, they said. On December 29, Shehbaz announced filing his nomination papers for the upcoming general elections from Karachi’s NA-242 constituency, where MQM-P Senior Deputy Convener Mustafa Kamal had also filed their documents. 

Shehbaz had contested from the NA-249 constituency of Karachi in the 2018 general elections which he lost to the then-PTI leader Faisal Vawda by a slight margin.