With the Senate elections approaching, allied parties of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) are putting pressure on their major coalition partner by making unrealistic demands for seats beyond their original power in provincial assemblies, as the ruling party scrambles to ensure a seat adjustment formula to avoid the formal procedure of Senate polls. A source in the PPP told Pakistan Today that the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) was demanding 10 seats in the Senate, which was an extremely optimistic claim. “The PML-Q has sought five seats from Balochistan, two from Punjab, and one each from the federal capital, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). This is something unrealistic, although talks are underway and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani would secure a deal with PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain soon,” the source said.
He said demanding two seats from Punjab was an unrealistic demand, as the PPP was already in the tight spot to accommodate its own party workers from Punjab, which was a very important province for the party. The PPP-PMLQ coalition is likely to win four Senate seats, while the PML-N, the majority party in the province, would bag seven. In Balochistan Assembly, the PML-Q is the major party with around 17 members and is likely to win five seats, while the PPP might win four. In Balochistan, any candidate would need support of nine votes to get elected as a senator in the upcoming polls. In the House of 65, the PML-Q is the majority party with 18 members, but the party has been in tatters and Shujaat has no control over his party MPAs. The PPP is the second largest party with 13 MPAs. However, a PML-Q source said that Shujaat may sacrifice his party’s share in favour of the PPP if his party is given two seats in Punjab and one in the federal capital.
“If given a green signal for a federal capital seat by the ruling coalition, the party’s Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Sayed would be fielded there. But if not, he would be adjusted in Punjab while the party’s Secretary Information Kamil Ali Agha would also be fielded from Punjab,” the source said. When contacted, Senator Kamil Ali Agha said his party wanted a major share in the Senate polls as it was the only major political outfit other than the PPP that had presence in all four provincial assemblies as well as in Gilgit-Baltistan. The Awami National Party (ANP), another key ally, is seeking at least eight seats, including seven seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and one from Balochistan, where it has no member in the provincial assembly. “We are sure of winning six seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and can even win another one on technocrat or woman seat, while we are claiming one seat from Balochistan,” said senior ANP leader Haji Mohammed Adeel. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa As-
sembly, any candidate would at least need 18 votes to get elected on a general seat. Since the Awami National Party (ANP) is the largest political force with 49 members, the ruling party would most likely win three seats with the support from the PPP, while the latter, who has strength of 30 MPAs, may win one or two seats if the PML-Q’s six MPAs support the coalition partner. However, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is perhaps the only ally for the PPP who has demanded three seats in the Upper House of parliament purely based on its strength. “We have demanded only three seats which we perceive is our right. We would contest for two general seats and one member on the technocrat or woman seat,” said a main MQM leader requesting anonymity. He said MQM’s talks with the PPP in this regard were almost at the final stage.
“These are fixed seats and the MQM would get its due share,” he added. In Sindh Assembly, elections would be held for seven general seats, two women and two technocrat seats. Since the Sindh Assembly has strength of 168 seats, 24 members would have to vote to elect a member. Since the PPP has the strength of 93 members, the ruling party may win four general seats out of a total seven. The MQM would regain their two seats while one seat may be dished out to either the PML-Q or the PML-F, if they join hands to win a seat. The PML-F is also seeking a seat from Sindh and so is the BNP-Awami, whose President Mir Israrullah Zehri wants reelection to the Senate from Balochistan. “The parliamentary group of FATA is also pressurising the PPP government to seek two Senate seats, however, Prime Minister Gilani has assured Munir Khan Orakzai of giving at least one seat to the group,” the PPP source added. PPP Secretary Information Qamar Zaman Kaira said the talks for seat adjustment with all coalition partners were being held at the leadership level. He said even if some parties were putting unrealistic demands, all the matters would be settled by the party leadership. “I don’t think that the coalition partners would put unrealistic demands to the PPP. However, even if they do so, they would get chunk on the basis of their strength in the assemblies,” he concluded.
