MQM-P’s vote for Asif Zardari subject to Rabta Committee’s approval

ISLAMABAD: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Monday asserted that its vote for allied parties’ nominee Asif Ali Zardari in presidential elections would be subject to Rabta Committee’s approval, ARY News reported.

A joint delegation of Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) met MQM-P leaders at Parliament lodges in Islamabad ahead of presidential elections, slated for March 9.

The delegation made formal request to MQM-P leaders to support the joint candidate Asif Ali Zardari in the March 9 polls.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that the party’s Rabta Committee would take a final decision on giving vote to allied parties candidate.

“We have a history of reconciliation and we want to work together,” Siddiqui said, adding that the final decision would made in tomorrow’s meeting.

Earlier in the day, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday accepted the nomination papers of allied parties’ nominee Asif Ali Zardari and PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) candidate Mahmood Khan Achakzai for the upcoming presidential elections.

According to details, both leaders submitted their nomination papers for the presidential elections – slated to be held on March 9.

Candidates can opt out of the contest by March 6, and polling is scheduled to take place from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on March 9 at Parliament House in Islamabad and the provincial Assembly buildings in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, and Quetta.

Former president Asif Zardari is being backed by the PML-N-led eight-party coalition as per an understanding reached after the February 8 elections, while nationalist leader Mahmood Achakzai is the candidate of the PTI-Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) alliance.