ISLAMABAD  -  Pakistan People’s Party plans to field maximum number of candidates in the general elections to gain as many parlia­mentary seats as pos­sible. The PPP leader­ship believes that more candidates will mean more chances to win. This will also help pla­cate party members in constituencies where the party otherwise has little chance of winning.

There are a lot of seats in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhaw where the PPP will aim to accommodate its members knowing very well that the candidate will hardly give a fight to the rivals.

This will, however, ensure the PPP election symbol on the ballot pa­pers and also provide an opportunity to the party workers to par­ticipate in the polls and prepare for the future.

The PPP has not de­clared any major elec­tion alliance apart from its partnership with the Awami National Party. This gives them a win­dow to nominate can­didates in almost all the constituencies. Wheth­er majority of these candidates will win is a question. Earlier, the PPP Sindh Parliamen­tary Board convened to extensively deliberate on the selection of can­didates hailing from the Hyderabad and Mirpur Khan divisions for the forthcoming general elections scheduled for February 8.

The multi-day meet­ing, presided over by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and at­tended by key figures like Faryal Talpur, delved into strategic considerations for can­didate nominations.

Prominent attend­ees included PPP Sindh President Nisar Ahmad Khoro, former Chief Ministers Qaim Ali Shah and Murad Ali Shah, as well as former federal minister Naveed Qamar.

Separately, PPP Central Informa­tion Secretary Faisal Karim Kundi, dur­ing a news conference, affirmed the party’s commitment to fully participate in the upcoming general elections.

Kundi asserted that transparent elections were crucial for demo­cratic strength. He expressed optimism about a PPP-led co­alition government emerging after the elec­tions and emphasized the PPP’s past success in managing coalition governance. Yesterday, former caretaker inte­rior minister Sarfraz Bugti announced to join the PPP after resigning from his interim post to contest the upcoming general elections.

Bugti, formerly asso­ciated with the Balo­chistan Awami Party, spoke at a ceremony in Turbat, Balochistan, where he emphasized his longstanding familial connection with the PPP.

He outlined devel­opmental priorities for Balochistan under PPP leadership, ad­dressing issues such as connectivity, health­care, and countering nationalist politics. The Supreme Court of Paki­stan played a pivotal role by rejecting any possible delay in the general elections. The court’s decision came as it ruled against changes to new delimitations in Balochistan, following a petition challenging the delimitation process.

The court declared objections to constitu­ency delimitation in­valid once the election schedule was released, solidifying the Febru­ary 8 election date. The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf is raising questions re­garding the legitimacy of the upcoming elec­tions due to the impris­onment of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on graft charges. Khan is also ineligible to contest elections for five years.

The caretaker gov­ernment, led by Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, remains in charge until the elec­tions determine a new parliamentary majority and the Prime Minister.