QUETTA: Pakistan Mus­lim League-Nawaz and Pakh­tunkhwa Milli Awami Party have announced to put joint candidates for the slots of Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Quetta Metropolitan Corporation.

This was announced after a consensus was reached between the two parties in marathon meetings held in Islamabad.

“Our candidates for mayor and deputy mayor would be joint and we will contest election jointly,” the meeting decided.

At a joint Press conference here on Tuesday night, PML-N Balochistan chapter General Secretary, Nasibul­lah Bazai and PkMAP Balo­chistan President, Usman Kakar said that both political parties have reached a consensus to forth joint candidates for the top slots of Quetta Metropolitan Corporation.

“Dr Kalimullah of PkMAP will contest as joint candidate of PML-N and PkMAP for the top slot of Mayor Quetta Metropolitan Corporation and Younus Lehri of PML-N for the slot of the Deputy Mayor, respectively,” they said.

A high level meeting of senior leaders of the PkMAP, PML-N and National Party, including Balochistan Chief Minister Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch, PkMAP Chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Federal Minister for Railways, Khwaja Saad Rafeeque and PML-N leaders Sardar Yaqoob Nasar and Zafar Iqbal Jhagra in Islamabad had decided to put forth joint candidates for the top slots of Quetta Metropolitan Corporation elections,” they said adding that the decision was taken in the larger interest of the people of Quetta.

PkMAP leader Usman Kakar said that their party was thankful to the central leadership of PML-N, NP and Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen and other groups for supporting the candidate of PkMAP for the office of Quetta Mayor in the forthcoming elections.

“The consensus on elections of Mayor and Deputy Mayor Quetta will put a positive effect on the political environment. We hope that the federal government will give special package for Quetta”, he said.

Meanwhile, addressing a separate press conference, leaders of All Parties Democratic Alliance (APDA) announced their joint candidates for the office of Mayor and Deputy Mayor and Chairman and Vice Chairman of District Council Quetta.

They included Maulana Abdul Qadir Loni of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Nazriati, Abdul Rasheed Khan Nasar of Awami National Party, Khaliq Hazara of Hazara Democratic Party, Chaudhry Shabbeer, Musa Langove and Naseer Shahwani.

They said that no space would be left for the ruling coalition of the province.

They said that Qazi Qahir Achakzai of JUI-N and Raza Wakeel of HDP would be joint candidates of APDA for the office of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, respectively.

While Malik Naeem Bazai and Mir Ashraf Satakzai would be joint candidates of APDA for the offices of Chairman and Deputy Chairman of District Council Quetta, respectively, they added .

They said that PML-N remained part of APDA for 13 months and adopted a joint view over the elections of Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the city adding that now PML-N had parted its ways with APDA.

Criticising Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, they said that he personally intervened in the matters of bringing candidates for the elections of Quetta city’s Mayor and Deputy Mayor. “It was PM Nawaz who instructed his party leadership to support the candidate of PkMAP for the office of Mayor of Quetta,” they said.

Meanwhile a group of councillors headed by a former City Nazim and Mayor Abdul Rahim who belong to PNL-N announced boycott of the election. He criticised party president Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif and said

that he cannot be part of such politics currently being adopted by PML-N leadership.

Published in Dawn January 28th, 2015

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