Pakistan presidential election: PPP, PML-N may field joint candidate for poll, final list to be announced on 30 August

Karachi: The two main Opposition parties in Pakistan, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), are likely to field a joint candidate for the upcoming presidential election in the country next month. [caption id=“attachment_4764811” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] In this regard, an all-party conference chaired by PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to take place in Murree on 25 August, Geo News quoted sources as saying. The consensus was reached after PPP leaders met Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and held talks about fielding a joint candidate in the presidential poll, sources added. The presidential election is scheduled to take place on 4 September. Incumbent Pakistan president Mamnoon Hussain’s five-year term is due to end on 9 September. Last week, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had said that the candidates can file their nomination papers for the polls with the presiding officers situated in Islamabad and in the four provinces of the country by 27 August. The scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on 29 August and the final list of the candidates will be published by the country’s electoral body on 30 August. The lawmakers will cast their votes in the National Assembly, the lower house of the Pakistan Parliament and the four provincial Assemblies (Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) from 10 am to 4 pm on 4 September. Meanwhile, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has nominated senior leader Arif Alvi for the post of the President.