In a bid to pose a serious challenge to Awami National Party (ANP) in its strongholds in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Maulana Fazl’s Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao’s Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) have entered into a seat adjustment in three districts.
Both parties would support each other’s candidates on five national and 15 provincial seats at Charsada, Swabi and Buner. All three districts have been considered strongholds of ANP since ages.
Maulana Fazl and Sherpao have been making such pre-poll arrangements since 1990.
Addressing a joint press conference at Peshawar on Friday, JUI-F’s Ata-ur-Rahman and QWP’s Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao announced the seat adjustment between their parties in three out of the 25 districts of KP.
According to the seat adjustment formula, one National Assembly (NA) seat each would go to JUI-F and QWP in Charsadda- the native district of ANP chief Asfandyar Wali. Out of the three provincial assembly constituencies falling under Charsadda’s NA-7, two seats went to QWP and one to JUI-F. However, all three provincial constituencies under NA-8 were open for both parties.
Asfandyar Wali is contesting elections from NA-7 Charsada whereas Aftab Sherpao will be JUI-F’s and QWP’s combined candidate from NA-8 Charsada. JUI-F’s Maulana Gohar Shah will be backed by QWP against Asfandyar Wali Khan in NA-7. It appears that Sherpao and Fazl intend to repeat the 2002 general elections when Gohar Shah defeated Wali Khan.
In Swabi, both NA seats went to JUI-F and all six provincial seats will be distributed on an equal basis between the two parties. In Buner, the JUI-F got one national and one provincial constituency while the remaining two provincial seats went to QWP.
Leaders from JUI-F and QWP expressed jubilation over the finalisation of seat adjustment in three districts and claim to sweep polls in their respective regions. They said negotiations for similar adjustments in other districts are underway between both parties. However, they called upon workers from both parties to extend support to each other throughout the province.