The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has announced that it will contest the upcoming Senate polls and by-elections through the platform of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).
PML-N secretary-general Ahsan Iqbal said in a press conference that any decision regarding resignations from assemblies would be taken after that. He also announced that the party would not field a candidate in Sindh by-elections against the PDM component Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
He expressed the hope that other parties in the alliance would offer complete support in the by-elections to the PML-N. He further said that field will not be left open for the PTI in the Senate elections.
He said the PDM would take part in the Senate elections. It did not want the government to have a two-third majority in the Senate.
The PML-N parliamentary board had earlier, during a meeting with Vice President Maryam Nawaz in the chair, finalised the names of the candidates for the by-elections.
Senior PML-N leader and former federal minister Khurram Dastagir, who attended the meeting, said the names of the candidates will be announced soon.
On a question regarding resignations from the assemblies before the Senate elections, he said the PDM members would tender resignations after Senate elections.
He claimed that resignations were not important, the PDM was focusing on long march.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced the schedule of by-elections. Elections for Sindh and Balochistan’s provincial assemblies will take place on February 16 while elections for National, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on February 19.
By-elections will be held on Sindh Assembly’s PS-43 (Sanghar III) and PS-88 (Malir II), Balochistan Assembly’s PB-20 (Pishin III), NA-45 (Kurram I) and NA-75 (Sialkot IV), Punjab Assembly’s PP-51 (Gujranwala I), and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s PK-63 (Nowshera III).
