Pakistan: Bilawal Bhutto's PPP open to form alliance with Imran Khan's PTI to counter Nawaz Sharif

With the keenly-watch Pakistan elections just a little over a couple of months away, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has shown a willingness to ally with its arch-rival Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI), to counter ally Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Punjab PPP acting president Rana Farooq Saeed said: “We may enter into an (electoral) alliance with other parties, including the PTI, against the PML-N.” The statement made by Saeed appears to be in response to a PML-N leader’s remark by one of PML-N leaders who said the party intends to contest elections in Sindh by collaborating with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and the Grand Democratic Alliance. Saeed, along with Shehzad Cheema and others, said the PPP is prepared to confront the challenges posed by political rivals regarding electoral alliances with other parties. The PPP leader further said in politics, electoral alliances are formed and dissolved, as it’s part of the political process and not driven by personal enmity. He further said the world would not accept the election results if any party was kept out of the January 2024 electoral contest. Speaking about the PTI’s role in the May 9 attacks on military installations, Saeed said those who were involved in the hooliganism must be penalised but those who had been only silent spectators during the incidents should be forgiven and that innocent PTI workers should not be barred from taking part in the elections. Saeed also blamed the PML-N for attempting to keep the PTI out of the electoral race. With inputs from agencies