PML-N faces internal resistance over electables, wants MQM backing on four NA seats, say sources
Pakistan
The party has already started the process to award tickets to the aspirants
LAHORE/KARACHI (Dunya News/Web Desk) – There are some reservations over the issue of inducting electables into the PML-N, sources say, as some party members and leaders from southern and central Punjab as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are pointing to the hardships and political victimisation they had to face before and after the PTI came into power.
On the other hand, the PML-N is hoping that the MQM-P will back its candidates on four National Assembly and five Sindh Assembly seats, with the party eyeing a permanent and an effective role in the politics of Sindh, which will help strengthen its credential as a national political force and increase share in the legislatures.
According to sources, former parliamentarians and ticket-holders from districts like Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh, Bhakkar and Sargodha in Punjab and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are of the view that they were implicated in bogus cases and even sent to jail besides experiencing other forms of coercion.
At the same time, they rejected lucrative offers to change loyalties but remained steadfast and committed to the party and its supremo – three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
The failure to divide and weaken the PML-N has been repeatedly highlighted by the senior party leaders. Khawaja Asif is the latest example who said earlier this week that Nawaz would be elected prime minister for a fourth term on Feb 8, adding that those trying to remove the three-time prime minister from politics had vanished.
Read more: Those who propelled PTI chairman into power equally responsible for the mess: Nawaz Sharif
As a solution and the ground political realities, the critics in the party have suggested that the electables should be accommodated in only those constituencies where the PML-N isn’t strong enough.
Meanwhile, the PML-N has already started the process to award tickets to the aspirants as the coordination committee will later present its proposals to the party central parliamentary board.
پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ن) میں پارٹی ٹکٹوں کی تقسیم:کوآرڈینیشن کمیٹی کا اجلاس شروع
— PMLN (@pmln_org) November 28, 2023
کمیٹی کے ڈویژنل کوآرڈینیٹر سینیٹر پرویز رشید کی صدارت میں اجلاس رکن کمیٹی طاہرہ اورنگزیب کی رہائش گاہ پرجاری ہے
مسلم لیگ (ن) راولپنڈی ڈویژن کے صدر ملک ابرار، عطاء اللہ تارڑ اور حنیف عباسی بھی اجلاس… pic.twitter.com/Nm9HGSj49y
But how to deal with the inclusion of electables isn’t a problem in places like Sindh and Balochistan where the PML-N aims at expanding its base both at horizontal and vertical levels – voters and leaders.
In this connection, some other sources say that the PML-N will ask the MQM-P for supporting the party nominees on multiple constituencies of national and provincial legislatures in Karachi as part of the agreed seat adjustment mechanism.
The demand is to be presented tomorrow [Wednesday] during a consultative meeting on political and electoral issues between the two sides in Islamabad.
Khawaja Saad Rafique, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Bashir Memon are going to represent that the PML-N at the huddle where Dr Farooq Sattar, Mustafa Kamal and Aminul Haq from the MQM-P would also be present.
Read more: PML-N and MQM-P complete first round of talks on election, future strategy
The meeting comes after the two sides completed the initial phase of identifying, listing and prioritising the issues as well as the solutions for future course of action before and after the Feb 8 elections.
