GUJRAT: The local cadre of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has strongly opposed an electoral alliance or seat adjustment with the PML-Q and said any such formula cannot augur well for the party’s cause of bringing a change in the country.

The announcement was made at a joint meeting of various groups within the PTI’s local chapter on Thursday.

The meeting was hosted by Afzal Gondal, a PTI ticket-holder from NA-105 (now NA-69) Gujrat city-Kunjah, who had secured third position with around 40,000 votes in 2013 election. The winner was Chaudhry Pervez Elahi of the PML-Q.

Former ticket-holders Usman Ali Tariq from NA-104 (now NA-68), Chaudhry Iftikhar Samman from PP-110 (now PP-30, Kunjah), aspirants of party tickets from various constituencies in the district, including Usman Manzoor Dhudra, son of ex-MNA Manzoor Dhudra, Tanveer Gondal, Syed Madad Ali Shah of Kulewal from NA-70 (Lalamusa-Dinga), former district president of PTI, Khalilur Rehman, and others attended the meeting.

Expressing concern over the reports of PTI’s possible seat adjustment with the PML-Q, the meeting participants called upon their senior leadership to refrain from such engagement as the party already had “strong candidates” who could win their seats without making an alliance with any other party in Gujrat.

On the occasion, Mr Gondal said the PTI’s ideological workers would never accept seat adjustment with the PML-Q as they had a bitter experience of such an arrangement in the July, 2016 elections of Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Legislative Assembly, LA-34 constituency comprising Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin and Wazirabad areas.

“The PTI had forged an alliance with the PML-Q awarding ticket to Afzal Malhi (of the Q) who lost with a huge margin and stood third, because the PTI’s workers neither accepted him as their candidate nor participated in his campaign, resulting in embarrassment to the party,” Mr Gondal said and added that any such arrangement in future would yield a similar result.

Meanwhile, their are reports that the two parties are going for the seat adjustment on all the four national and seven provincial assembly seats of the district.

Under the possible arrangement, the PTI might not pitch its candidates for both NA seats from Gujrat -- NA-68 and NA-69 against senior PML-Q leaders Chaudhary Pervez Elahi and Chaudhary Wajahat Hussain, respectively, sources said. The party would also not field its candidate in PP-30, Kunjah, against Moonis Elahi, they added. In return, the PML-Q might support the PTI candidates for two PA seats -- PP-28 or PP-29 (Tanda-Jalalpur Jattan) and PP-31 (Gujrat city).

Similarly, the PML-Q may also extend support to the PTI candidates on the remaining two NA seats of the district -- NA-70 (Lalamusa-Dinga) and NA-71 (Kharian-Sara-i-Alamgir) in return for the former’s backing for its candidates running for PP-32 and PP-34.

However, the parties have yet to agree on a comprehensive seat-adjustment formula for the whole province.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2018