PPP-Patriots central leader and federal Northern Areas and Kashmir Affairs Minister Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat has said that the ruling coalition parties will contest the next general elections under one platform.
"The four parties of the ruling coalition, including Pakistan Muslim League (PML), PPP-Patriots, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and PML-Functional (Pagara) would form electoral alliance and contest the upcoming elections under the same election symbol," he said.
Talking to PPI, Faisal said that the present assemblies would be the first one to complete its tenure on November 16, 2007.
Therefore, there was yet more than one-and-a-half-year in holding fresh general elections. However, under the Constitution, the president could either extend for a year or on the advice of the prime minister hold the elections prior to the deadline, he said.
He said that the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) was a temporary alliance and it would not remain intact for a long time due to divergent views of the component parties. Each component party of the ARD had its own agenda, identification and different targets as well as plan of action to grab the power, therefore, chances of their tug of war were bright, he said.
However, the ruling coalition was based on identical views, having same opinion on various national issues and meant to promote and materialise the agenda of President General Pervez Musharraf for the progress and prosperity, he said.
Faisal said the country would be heading ultimately towards two party system, as over the last two decades the politicians have shown somehow maturity, adding that the small parties would wipe out from the political arena.
About the issue of shedding uniform, the PPP-Patriot leader said that President Musharraf himself would decide about the issue.