ISLAMABAD - The May 9 mayhem undoubtedly proved to be a political upheaval in Pakistan especially for the PTI. Though the next elections have still not been announced, the major players of the eleven parties' alliance have started planning for the upcoming polls.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League (N) , PML (Q) and the new emerging faction led by Jahangir Khan Tareen are negotiating for seat adjustments for the general elections which could take place around October this year.
In a recent political development , PPP has even formed a committee to closely watch the possibility of seat adjustment especially in Punjab.
As per political analysts, the PPP has so far been the most accepting of PTI's dissidents. A large number of politicians from South Punjab have clearly shifted their loyalty towards PPP and more are in contact with the party's heavyweights. PML-N, the ruling party in center, has so far not been able to net in the PTI's fresh dissidents.
However, most of 33 PTI MNAs (dissidents) who are currently sitting in the national assembly are hoping to get tickets from PML-N. The PML-N members, after the May 9, have changed their political strategy as some of them rushed to rejoin the party and now trying to convince party's senior leadership to hold public meetings in their constituencies. Abdul Rehman Kanjo and Javed Ali Shah are among those pushing party leadership for public meetings.
On the other hand, Jahangir Khan Tareen is second in the race to gather the PTI dissidents in his party, which will be announced and registered in coming days. Tareen has also reportedly reached out to politicians from Karachi, inner Sindh, KPK and Balochistan to join the new party, which can make its position effective to give a tough time to major political parties.
The seat adjustment process will continue till the finalisation of elections schedule as it seems that the eleven party alliance will mainly contest against PTI. It will be challenging for PTI to award tickets in different parts of the country as many electables have shifted their loyalties.