PML-N, PPP to jointly contest by-elections

ISLAMABAD: The ruling coalition partners, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), have announced that they will contest the upcoming by-elections together.

Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified 12 PTI lawmakers from Punjab following their conviction in the May 9, 2023, cases.

The disqualified members belonged to eight National Assembly and four Punjab Assembly constituencies. The by-elections will be held on the vacant seats of the PTI’s disqualified members.

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Speaking at a joint press conference in Islamabad, PML-N leader and federal minister Hanif Abbasi and PPP leader and former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said that both parties would not field candidates against each other in the by-polls.

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Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said the meeting was held on the instructions of the leadership of both parties to discuss the by-elections, and it was decided that they would jointly participate in the polls.

He said that whichever party was the runner-up in a constituency during the general election would be supported by the other party in the by-polls.

“The formula has been finalised between the two allies,” Ashraf said, adding that PML-N would support PPP where its candidate was the runner-up in the general election, and PPP would back PML-N in constituencies where its candidate had come second.

Hanif Abbasi said that the two parties were allies in the Senate, National Assembly and provincial assemblies, and would now jointly contest the by-elections as well.

He expressed confidence that both parties would succeed together in the by-polls.

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The PPP has announced its intention to contest on six vacant seats — NA-143 and PP-203 in Sahiwal, NA-185 in Dera Ghazi Khan, and NA-96, NA-104 and PP-98 in Faisalabad — and invited applications from aspiring candidates.

PPP leader and former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said the two parties had agreed to support each other in constituencies where their candidates finished runner-up in the general elections.

He said the understanding was reached on the directions of both parties’ leadership.

“There will be no more confusion between us or our candidates,” Ashraf added.