The JI’s top decision-making body, central executive committee, will meet on Saturday in Mansoora to streamline the religious party’s election strategy for the forthcoming polls amid reports that its talks with the PML-N have broken down for good.
JI insiders disclosed that after being let down by the PML-N and PTI, the party was now set to make alliances with other religious parties. They said the cooperation would be on a scale witnessed during the days of MMA.
Party insiders said after the response shown by the PML-N, there was no question of any talks in the future.
As opposed to this extreme view, Liaquat Baloch, JI’s senior leader and proponent of cooperation between the JI and PML-N, said political forces did not shut doors on each other.
He conceded that so far, there was no breakthrough in talks between the PML-N and JI and that talks still continued.
He said the JI wanted an honourable conclusion of these talks.
Baloch said the executive committee would review the party’s electoral strategy.
Sources said the meeting would review progress achieved by the JI in talks with the PML-N and other political forces. The JI leadership would also take stock of future line of action after the failure of its talks with the political parties.
PML-N sources said the JI was too demanding in terms of national and provincial seats, which it was hard pressed to fulfil.
A strong lobby in the JI favours seat adjustment with the PML-N. The JI has been a longstanding partner of the PML-N, entering into seat adjustments with N-league in almost all past elections.
This time, the JI opened talks with the PTI and PML-N simultaneously, probably to maximise gains and squeeze extra political mileage, however, it ended up giving conflicting signals to the these political parties.
The PML-N maintained that the JI had been trying to blackmail the PML-N by making advances towards the PTI.
But PML-N leaders still want cooperation with the JI in hope that it would counter the MQM in Karachi and Hyderabad, though the JI has little utility in Punjab.
