{"id":50136,"date":"2024-01-20T05:52:05","date_gmt":"2024-01-20T05:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/the-secret-marriage-between-pml-n-and-ipp\/"},"modified":"2024-01-20T05:52:05","modified_gmt":"2024-01-20T05:52:05","slug":"the-secret-marriage-between-pml-n-and-ipp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/the-secret-marriage-between-pml-n-and-ipp\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u2018secret marriage\u2019 between PML-N and IPP"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>THE alliance between the Sharifs\u2019 PML-N and sugar baron Jahangir Khan Tareen\u2019s Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) on seven seats of the National Assembly and 11 of the Punjab legislature looks to be a kind of \u201csecret marriage\u201d, as no side is ready to own it in public, or help out other in its election campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Neither the PML-N nor the IPP have officially made any announcements regarding their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1799741\">seat-adjustment arrang\u00adement<\/a>, and PML-N candidates are running their campaigns, even in the 17 constituencies their party supposedly \u2018gifted\u2019 to the IPP in Punjab, ostensibly on the insistence of the powers that be.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1805114\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The PML-N leadership, however, has not yet conveyed to its workers in these 17 constituencies, save two, that IPP candidates are the two parties\u2019 joint contestants. Moreover, neither party has officially listed the seats on which the two have an agreement.<\/p>\n<p>According to information obtained by <em>Dawn<\/em>, the six NA seats the two sides have reached an adjustment on include: NA 48 Islamabad-III, NA-54 Rawal\u00adpindi-III, NA-68 Mandi Bahaduddin-II, NA-117 Lahore-I, NA-143 Sahiwal-III and NA-149 Multan-II.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"blockquote-level-1\">\n<p>Despite a much-touted seat adjustment, neither side has officially conveyed the arrangement to its workers, nor released an official list to the media, and PML-N candidates are still running their own campaigns in constituencies supposedly \u2018gifted\u2019 to the IPP<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The two exceptions are NA-117 Lahore-I and PP-149 Lahore-V, where PML-N leaders Saad Rafique and Sheikh Rohail Asghar coordinated with IPP President Aleem Khan during canvassing, mostly due to their personal relationship with him.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1805211\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Furthermore, Aleem Khan has even managed to persuade the Chaudharys\u2019 PML-Q to withdraw their candidate who was contesting against him in NA-117.<\/p>\n<p>In stark contrast, Awn Chaudhry of the IPP has found no help from the PML-N\u2019s former ticket-holder and workers for his campaign in NA-128 Lahore-XII, despite pleading with Shehbaz Sharif, who was instrumental in persuading his party to leave the constituency in favour of IPP.<\/p>\n<p>Incidentally, Mr Chaudhry has a close relationship with the PML-N president as he previously served as an adviser to then-PM Shehbaz during the previous PDM government.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2018Strange situation\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the absence of marching orders from the party\u2019s top leadership \u2014 Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz \u2014 on the seat adjustment deal with IPP, PML-N workers have not been seen canvassing in tandem with IPP in this constituency, as is usually the case when two parties join hands.<\/p>\n<p>Former PML-N ticket-holders, who were ignored by the party leadership this time around in order to oblige the IPP, are understandably not ready to canvass for the latter, either.<\/p>\n<p>The IPP \u2014 a second home for Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) deserters \u2014 is only contesting in 51 of Punjab\u2019s 141 NA constituencies. The IPP has no alliance with any other party, yet it claims that its only rival is its main ally, the PML-N.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1793408\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The party\u2019s patron-in-chief, Jahangir Khan Tareen (JKT), is a candidate from NA-149 and NA-155 in Multan and Lodhran, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>On the Lodhran seat, the PML-N has already awarded the ticket to an electable, Siddique Baloch, but has left the field open for JKT in Multan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a strange situation \u2014 in the Lodhran constituency, JKT is seeking votes against the PML-N candidate, while in Multan he wants my party\u2019s local leadership to campaign for him,\u201d a PML-N leader from Punjab told <em>Dawn<\/em> on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>He said that since the PML-N leadership had started its own election campaign hardly three weeks before the Feb 8 polls, the IPP shouldn\u2019t expect the Sharifs to go the extra mile for Tareen\u2019s party. \u201cIPP candidates will have to bank on their own resources to win their seats,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>IPP leaders and workers were euphoric after the apex court\u2019s decision to deprive the PTI of its iconic symbol \u2018bat\u2019, the PML-N leader said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1759457\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Since it now carries the tag of \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1756988\">king\u2019s party<\/a>\u2019, IPP hopes to absorb most PTI candidates who are elected on Feb 8 as independents. \u201cThis will enable the party to dictate terms,\u201d an IPP insider told <em>Dawn<\/em>, adding that they were also confident of help from \u2018upon high\u2019 in the polls.<\/p>\n<p>When asked for comment, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, spokespersons for the PML-N and the IPP, respectively, remained tight-lipped on the matter of seat adjustment and the lack of coordination between them.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Awan, who is contesting the NA-70 seat in Sialkot, is also running her campaign on her own after PML-N refused her application for a ticket and gave it to Armaghan Subhani.<\/p>\n<p><em>Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE alliance between the Sharifs\u2019 PML-N and sugar baron Jahangir Khan Tareen\u2019s Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) on seven seats of the National Assembly and 11 of the Punjab legislature looks to be a kind of \u201csecret marriage\u201d, as no side is ready to own it in public, or help out other in its election campaign. Neither [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2024\/01\/2009131990c1b6c.png?r=091348","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}