NA-55 by-election: PPP tells JI to approach Zardari for support

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Rawalpindi Chapter on Wednesday told Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) local leaders that JI Amir Syed Munawar Hassan should approach PPP Co-Chairman and President Asif Ali Zardari to win the party support in NA-55 by-election.

This suggestion came during a meeting between local leaders of the two parties here at the residence of PPP City President Aamir Fida Paracha. Former MPAs Prof Muhammad Waqas Khan and Muhammad Hanif Chaudhry, Punjab JI Deputy Secretary Syed Aziz Hamid, Central Media Director Hafiz Sajjad Qamar and Rawal Town JI Raza Deputy Secretary Muhammad Chaudhry represented JI, while PPP City President Aamir Fida Paracha, Anjum Farooq Paracha, Khalid Nawaz Bobi and Wajid Raffique Abbasi represented PPP.

Sources told Daily Times that the PPP local leaders informed JI counterparts that their party had not fielded any candidate due to an agreement with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). They said the PPP local chapter has suggested some steps for further cooperation with PML-N. However, they admitted that the party workers were disturbed over PML-N leaders harsh language against their leadership and they had suggested the party high command to field its own candidate, but the party leadership insisted to abide by the agreement between the two parties.

They said if PML-N failed to accept their suggestions, the PPP local chapter would allow its workers and supporters to support their favorite candidate. They said the PPP local organisation informed party’s high command regarding the ground realities and said such contacts should be between parties’ top leaderships.

They said JI formally requested PPP local chapter to support its candidate as both parties believed in supremacy of parliament in the country. They said elections were main component of the democratic system and to strength it the political parties should work together.

They said JI also admitted that there were ideological differences between the two parties but PPP had neither fielded its candidate nor announced support to any candidate so they wanted PPP support to their candidate in the by-election.

The sources quoted the PPP leaders as saying that their leadership was committed to supremacy of parliament and struggling hard to create peaceful environment in the country where all the political forces could work to strengthen the democracy.

They said the PPP assured that they would plead their case before the party’s high command after taking its workers and supporters on the board. They said both the parties agreed to further enhance these contacts for the welfare of people and in the larger interest of the country.