PPP dialogue committee tasked to begin meetings with politicians

• Talks to comprise discussions on seat adjustment.
• Committee formed as polls scheduled for Feb 8, 2024.
• PPP leaders discuss country's overall situation in meeting.

ISLAMABAD: The members of the Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) dialogue committee, constituted to initiate talks with other political parties and politicians, have been assigned important tasks as polls draw near, The News reported on Tuesday.

They have been tasked with scheduling meetings with national and provincial personalities for possibilities of seat adjustment as the country moves towards general elections scheduled to take place on February 8 next year.

The meeting of the dialogue committee of the PPP, on Monday, was held with the party's Secretary General PPP Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari as chair, while other attendees included PPP President Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Muhammad Bacha and PPP Information Secretary Faisal Karim Kundi, while Qamar Zaman Kaira and Sajid Turi participated through video link.

In the first meeting of the committee for Punjab and KP, the overall political situation of the country and the upcoming elections were discussed in detail. Through mutual consultation, it was decided to hold separate meetings of the negotiation committees of the four provinces.

Under the leadership of former president Asif Ali Zardari, the PPPP has decided to contact political parties and politicians for dialogue both before and after the general elections, scheduled to take place on February 8 next year.

The formation of the committee was okayed by the senior politician last week on November 25 to conduct dialogue with political parties and personalities under a well-planned strategy.

The development was announced after Zardari formed a committee, comprising his party's members, to get in touch with parties and politicos with the aim of fostering dialogue as the country approaches general polls in 2024.

The move by the PPP came as the Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) accelerated its efforts to form alliances with political parties in the run-up to the general polls, particularly in Sindh, which is considered a PPP stronghold.

The PML-N members had recently arrived in the country's southern-most province to initiate talks on forming alliances and seat adjustments with Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) to stand against the PPP as an allied force in Sindh and fetch crucial votes.