Alliance with MQM-P will be harmful and benefit PPP, say PML-N candidates

KARACHI: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidates from Karachi are against the alliance with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and not happy with this arrangement.

The Candidates are of the view that the alliance with the MQM-P will benefit the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

They maintained that the MQM does not have vote bank in the suburbs of Karachi such as in Malir and West.

The candidates expressed these views during a meeting held at Muslim League House, here on Wednesday.

They blamed the provincial leadership of not informing the central leadership about the truth.

Some candidates threatened that they would contest the elections as independent candidates if they were not awarded party tickets.

They added that the MQM had always harmed the Muslim League-N.

On January 9 (Tuesday), sources said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) reached an agreement on seat adjustment for the NA-242 constituency.

But today (Jan 10), the MQM-P leader Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui rejected the news of agreement on seat adjustment for the NA-242 constituency.

He said that Mustafa Kamal would be candidate of the party in the NA-242 constituency.

However, it was reported that the deadlock between the two parties on NA-242 was resolved through multiple rounds of dialogue, with MQM-Pakistan ultimately agreeing to PML-N’s demand. As a result, MQM-P decided to withdraw its candidate, Mustafa Kamal, in favor of former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Official announcement of this agreement is expected after a telephonic discussion between the heads of the two parties, Shehbaz Sharif and Khalid Maqbool Siddique. MQM-P has previously extended its support to PML-N in three other NA constituencies in Karachi, specifically two in Malir and one in Lyari.

However, the MQM-P has made it clear that it will not compromise in NA-240, where PML-N wants Owais Noorani of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan to contest.

Similarly, the MQM-P will not withdraw from NA-243, where PML-N intends to field Akhtar Jadoon, a former Sindh minister and PPP leader, according to the sources. Both parties have also agreed that PML-N candidates will contest National Assembly seats in Mirpur Khas, Nawabshah, and Sukkur districts, while MQM will field its candidates on provincial assembly seats in these districts.

Earlier in the day, the Election Tribunal approved the candidacy of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for the NA-242 (Karachi) constituency. The Election Tribunal dismissed objections raised by PTI and reinstated Shehbaz Sharif’s nomination papers for NA 242 Karachi.