ISLAMABAD   -   Pakistan People’s Party is eying seat adjustment with the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) in the Punjab province to improve its standing in the general elections.

PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari expects to win some seats in the Punjab province to be able to form a government in the centre in the general elections - likely to be held before schedule.

PPP sources said told The Nation that the party was in contact with the PML-N to ensure seats in Punjab. “The ministries in this stop-gap government do not mean a lot to us. We are planning for the general elections which are not far away,” said a senior PPP leader. He said Zardari was optimistic about a better performance in Punjab after the seat adjustment.

Last year, the PPP had appointed former Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf as the PPP Central Punjab President. PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari approved the appointment aiming to do better in the province after a series of failures. Syed Hassan Murtaza was appointed General Secretary and Shahzad Saeed Cheema as the provincial Information Secretary in central Punjab.

In May 2021, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed had quit from the party positions after poor performance in by-polls. Kaira was made president of the PPP Central Punjab in 2016.

For the last few years, the PPP has performed poorly in the most influential province. The party is eyeing to make a comeback in Punjab, once a stronghold of the PPP.

Yesterday, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and ruling PML-N leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif urged the new coalition government to hold early elections in the country.

The PPP has already invited applications from candidates for party tickets for National Assembly and all provincial assemblies in the country for the forthcoming general elections.

The PPP had been seeking seat adjustment with PML-N in Punjab on 15 seats in exchange for joining the federal cabinet. In exchange, the PPP will support PML-N on a Karachi seat and some seats in other parts of the Sindh province.

PPP nominee Raja Pervez Ashraf has already been elected as the Speaker National Assembly and Yusuf Raza Gilani is a candidate for Chairman Senate. The PPP is likely to soon name a new PPP Punjab President after Ashraf’s election as the Speaker.