LAHORE, Dec 20: Pakistan People’s Party central executive committee member and leader from Jhang Abida Husain has said she along with her husband Syed Fakhar Imam will be compelled to quit the party in case they were denied ticket by the leadership under the PPP-PML-Q seat-adjustment formula in the coming general elections.

At present she is playing a ‘waiting game’ and closely watching the political moves of her rival, PML-Q stalwart Faisal Saleh Hayat, with regard to contesting 2013 polls.

A source in the PML-N informed Dawn on Thursday that the N League had contacted Mr Hayat and offered him to join the party.

“Mr Hayat, the parliamentary leader of the Q League, is weighing his options and will reply to the PML-N once the interim setup is in place,” he said.

According to the PPP-PML-Q agreement, the last elections’ winning candidates from either party will get the ticket in the coming poll as well. In such a scenario, Ms Husain may not be the choice of the alliance for NA-88 (Jhang).

“My husband Fakhar Imam and I want to contest the poll from the platform of our party (PPP), but in case it does not give us ticket we may consider contesting the coming poll independently or from some other party’s platform,” Abdia Husain said.

As Mr Imam had also lost the last election to PML-Q’s Raza Hayat Hiraj in Khanewal (NA-156), both husband and wife are facing the same dilemma.

On the other hand, Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf is also trying to woo the couple.

A source close to the couple is of the opinion that the PTI could be their ultimate destination if both Mr Hayat and Mr Hiraj remain in the arena.

Talking to a group of journalists here on Thursday, Abida Husain said the politics of alliances would come to full force once the caretaker government was installed. She said the PTI was the third political force.

“Time will tell whether the PPP-PML-Q alliance succeeds. Even if I contest next election independently the PPP workers in my constituency will vote for me,” claimed Ms Husain.

Fakhar Imam said they (couple) were playing a waiting game. “Our first priority will be our party but in case we are pushed to the wall, we will be free to take our decision,” he said.

The couple urged the Election Commission to take stringent measures to implement its code of conduct in the coming elections.

They also talked about blatant violations of the ECP code in the recent by-polls in Punjab, which they termed unfortunate.