KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is ready to withdraw its two candidates in the upcoming Senate election, scheduled to take place on March 3, in favour of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).
The development came after a PPP delegation comprising Nasir Hussain Shah, Sharjeel Memon, Murtaza Wahab, and Waqar Mehdi visited MQM-P’s office in Bahadurabad.
Addressing a joint press conference, provincial minister Nasir Hussain Shah said, “We are ready to withdraw out two candidates, but MQM-P would also have to provide support in getting Yousuf Raza Gilani elected as the new Senate chairman.”
Nasir Hussain Shah further said that the delegation had met MQM-P on party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s directives. “MQM-Pakistan has assured that they will forward our requests to their Raabta Committee,” he added.
The provincial minister further said that the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) was “very scared in Punjab” as their members had reservations about the candidates chosen for the elections.
Taking over the presser, MQM-P leader Amir Khan said that although PPP was a bit late, it is appreciable that they had put forward their request to the MQM-P. “We had appealed to PPP to put an end to the feeling of deprivation among the citizens of Sindh,” he added.
“The issue of partnership and local bodies is also a problem. The interest around Senate elections will wane eventually, but the problems will still need to be resolved,” the MQM leader added.
