A big split is expected in the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Sindh as Ghous Ali Shah and his supporters did not participate in any of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s activities while the latter was in Karachi.
Sources said that Shah is in talks with the PML-Q and might also decide to join a new party that Pakistan People’s Party dissident Shah Mehmood Qureshi is planning to form.
During his visit, the Punjab chief minister met with senior journalists, writers, intellectuals and members of the business community, and condoled with the relatives of the party workers killed in Karachi violence.
In these all activities, the PML-N’s senior leader Shah and his group remained absent. Even the PML-N female wing was out of the scene. However, Shah’s opponent group remained very active during Sharif’s visit.
The gravity of the issue was felt when the Punjab chief minister was asked during a press conference about the PML-N leadership’s differences with its Sindh chapter. In response, Sharif told the questioner that it needed to be ascertained “who has put the question in your mouth”.
Shah and his supporters developed serious differences with the party leadership when he was made senior vice president of the party but was not appointed the PML-N Sindh president.
Sources said the PML-N leadership decided not to listen to Shah. Insiders said that Shah has indirectly started negotiations with Qureshi as well as the PML-Q leadership. If the talks are successful, a large number of PML-N Sindh members might leave the party.
Ghous may take big chunk of PML-N Sindh along with him
