‘Likeminded’ oppose alliance with PML-N

Trouble is brewing in the Pakistan Muslim League-Likeminded (PML-Likeminded) with its leading lights not in favour of an alliance with the PML-Nawaz (PML-N), announced recently by its top leaders in Islamabad.
Sources revealed that senior members of the PML-Likeminded met the other day in the city for the first time since their leaders Salim Saifullah and Humayun Akhtar made public their intentions of forging an alliance with the PML-N. The meeting, held in the absence of Saifullah who is abroad right now, was attended among others by Hamid Nasir Chattha, Khursheed Kasuri, Humayun Akhtar, Lala Nisar and Ghulam Abbas, all of them quite interested to know more details of the meeting with PML-N leaders. An insider of the meeting, who asked not to be identified by name to avoid controversy, disclosed that most of the participants were against any sort of alliance with the PML-N, at least at this stage. One PML-Likeminded leader said the group was created as a third political force in the country, and as a countervailing force to the two mainstream political parties. He stated that as such the idea of going with the PML-N in future seemed to be against maintaining the group’s separate identity in national politics. Hence, the opposition from most party members to talk of any unification or alliance with the Nawaz-led PML. According to sources, given the opposition from party stalwarts, it would be difficult for the PML-Likeminded as a whole to pursue the option of an alliance with the PML-N. They claimed that in case the group leaders still persisted with the desire to go ahead with the idea of political cooperation with the PML-N, it would cause the group to disintegrate. “I think in the end one or two leaders like Humayun Akhtar can join the PML-N,” remarked a senior member of the PML-Likeminded.
Meanwhile, Saifullah and Akhtar, after their meeting with senior PML-N leaders Ishaq Dar and Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, announced their group’s intention to form an alliance with the PML-N last week. Sources said the absence of several leaders from the PML-Likeminded from the meeting only suggested that either they were not onboard or not being consulted prior to making any commitment to the PML-N leadership. According to a source, a participant of the meeting said that alliance with the PML-N would mean siding with the opponents of former president Pervez Musharraf. Humayun Akhtar was not available for comments despite repeated attempts.