Opposition parties agree to field joint candidate in presidential poll

MURREE: Opposition parties have agreed to field a joint candidate in the forthcoming presidential election, political leaders confirmed Saturday.

The decision was made at a conference of opposition parties held in Murree on Saturday, which pondered over different names for the joint presidential nominee.

Speaking to media after the meeting, Ahsan Iqbal confirmed that the forum had decided to field joint candidate for the office of the president. He said the name of the candidate would be announced on Sunday (tomorrow) as PPP members have asked for some time to take their leadership into confidence over the discussion.

The PML-N leader said that all opposition parties supported the overseas Pakistanis' right to voting, however, objected to the haste being demonstrated in this regard.

PPP's Qamar Zaman Kaira said that Aitzaz Ahsan was still his party's presidential candidate.

Meanwhile, sources informed Geo News that a panel has been constituted for presenting three names to opposition parties for candidacy for the office of the president. Led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the body would have one member each from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), while one neutral member would also be part of the panel.

The panel would shortlist three names by Sunday (tomorrow), after which opposition parties will pick the final name, the sources added.

PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif chaired the All Parties Conference (APC) — the alliance of opposition parties which includes the PPP, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, Awami National Party, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), National Party, Qaumi Watan Party and Pak Sarzameen Party.

PkMAP leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai did not attend the meeting owing to prior commitments, however, he said he would support the APC's decisions.

The meeting decided that all allied parties will play the role of a strong opposition from now onwards, agreeing that all opposition parties would partake in "Insaf Do (Serve Justice)" campaign, according to the sources.

However, the forum delayed the agenda of Senate chairman's replacement until the next meeting.

The PML-N and PPP have been in disagreement over the nomination of Aitzaz Ahsan for the post of country’s president. Earlier, the PML-N stated that Ahsan could not be considered a joint opposition candidate.

Further, PML-N leader Pervaiz Rashid on Friday said the party will consider supporting Ahsan for the post of president if he apologises to incarcerated former premier Nawaz Sharif.

However, responding to Rashid's comments, Ahsan in a media talk said that the PML-N’s demand is "non-serious and non-political.”

The PTI has approved the nomination of Dr Arif Alvi as the party’s candidate for the post of president.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced the schedule for the presidential election which will be held on September 4.