Pakistan People's Party (PPP) has nominated Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahasan as the party candidate for presidential elections scheduled to be held on Sep 04 and also sought the support of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). PPP sources told that the party leadership including co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari after consultations nominated Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan to be the party candidate for the presidential election.
Chaudhry Aitzaz will face Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) candidate Dr Arif Alvi in the election for the top slot of the country's 13th president. The sources further said the PPP leadership in a meeting on Sunday discussed the party's strategy for the upcoming presidential elections to field Aitzaz Ahsan as the joint candidate of all the opposition parties.
For the purpose, the sources said the meeting decided to approach other opposition parties including PML-N, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and other smaller parties to muster support for the party's candidate. They said a committee comprising Syed Khursheed Ahmad Shah, Mian Raza Rabbani, Senator Sherry Rehman, Naveed Qamar, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmad, was also constituted which would reach out to the opposition parties for seeking support for Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahmad.
Meanwhile, the PPP delegation led by Syed Khursheed Ahmad Shah held a meeting with senior PML-N leader and former speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq and discussed the prevailing political situation of the country.
The sources said the PPP delegation sought PML-N support for its presidential candidate and conveyed the offer that the PPP in return would extend support to PML-N in the Senate where the party is all set to replace the PPP's opposition leader Sherry Rehman in the House.
However, the sources told that Ayaz Sadiq sought some time for consultations within the party. The sources also maintained that the PPP delegation may also meet PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif after Eid. Earlier, PPP refused to vote for PML-N candidate Shahbaz Sharif in the election for Prime Minister in National Assembly on August 17 and also to his son Hamza Shahbaz on Sunday in the election for Punjab chief minister in the provincial assembly.
The PPP also abstained from voting earlier in the election for Punjab Assembly speaker and deputy speaker. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday announced scheduled of the presidential election under which voting for the presidential election will be held in the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies on Sep 04 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
As per the schedule, nomination papers for the presidential election can be filed with the presiding officers in Islamabad and the four provinces by 12:00 pm on August 27 while scrutiny of the nomination papers will be conducted on August 29. It further stated that candidates can withdraw their nomination papers by noon on August 30 while the list of validated candidates will be published the same day at 1:00 pm.
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