News
Monday, May 12, 2008
Coalition with PPP possible if PML-Q CEC agrees: Afgan
By Irfan Ghauri
ISLAMABAD: A coalition between the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) is possible if the latter’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) endorses such a move with a majority, former federal minister Dr Sher Afgan Khan Niazi said on Sunday. Talking to Daily Times over the telephone from his native Mianwali district, he did not rule out the possibility of a coalition with the PPP at the Centre and in the provinces, despite resistance from the Chaudhry cousins if the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) quits the ruling coalition. “A political party is not the name of one or two individuals. The decision of the majority prevails in democracy. The party will have to follow the decision of PML-Q’s CEC if it favours joining the coalition government,” he said, adding that this was possible even without changing the party leadership. The Chaudhry cousins -- Shujaat Hussain and Pervaiz Elahi -- are currently heading the PML-Q. “It is an internationally acceptable norm that political parties join governments in the best interest of the country and the nation despite political differences,” he said, quoting precedents in the United Kingdom and the United States. He also cited examples of Balochistan and NWFP assemblies where PML-Q members have joined the coalition government. He called the alliance between the PPP and the PML-N ‘unnatural’, adding that it could not last long. Niazi also predicted new alliances in Punjab where the PML-N is in majority. The former minister said the PML-N could be sidelined if other political parties and independent groups join hands in Punjab.
Courtesy Daily Times