The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is set to announce schedule for intra-party elections at provincial level within two days while party’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) senior vice president Sartaj Aziz would be elevated to the position of PML-N Central Secretary General in the first week of next month (October). A PML-N source told Pakistan Today that the party’s central command would likely meet on September 17 in Islamabad or Lahore under the chair of PML-N President Nawaz Sharif to finalize the schedule for PML-N’s intra-party elections on the provincial levels.
After July 27 when the PML-N central general council elected Nawaz Sharif as PML-N President unopposed along other with office bearers, the PML-N’s intra-party polls at provincial levels were delayed due to differences among the party’s provincial leaders. While electing the central office bearers in July, the PML-N leadership had also back paddled from its earlier decision of to appoint former minister Sartaj Aziz as the party’s secretary-general and left the position vacant. Sartaj Aziz had been elected the party’s KP senior vice president.
The PML-N source said Sartaj Aziz had not been elected as central secretary general of the party on his own request. “Sartaj Aziz had asked PML-N central command to defer his election as PML-N central secretary general till the acceptance of his resignation from the top office of a private university as he argued that he could not simultaneously work on two hectic positions. Now he is spending his final month with the educational institution and will be relieved of his duties till October 1,” said a PML-N leader, adding that soon after quitting university, he would be appointed as PML-N central secretary general.
The PML-N leader rebutted the impression that there were differences in the party over nomination of Sartaj Aziz for the slot. “There is consensus among party’s central leaders on the name of Sartaj Aziz for the position of secretary general. Even nowadays, he is supervising deputy secretary general Ahsan Iqbal’s work and passes instruction on all important matters,” he said.
Meanwhile, sources in the party claim that the PML-N top command is facing troubles in finalising the names of provincial office bearers due to intra-party differences and groupings in various provinces on lingual basis. The source said the tug of war between various lingual communities in provinces particularly in Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had created troubles for the Sharifs in terms of to finalising its provincial office bearers.
The source said Syed Ghous Ali Shah resented the Sharif’s decision to make him PML-N senior vice president to secure the party’s Sindh chapter’s presidency. The source said that the PML-N’s Urdu speaking workers in Sindh wanted provincial president from their community like Saleem Zia or former Governor Sindh Mamnoon Hussain while Sindhi speaking workers and leaders were supporting the nomination of a Sindhi leader. He said that in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa either Sardar Mehtab Abbasi or Pir Sabir Shah would be elected to head party’s provincial chapter. “The possible nomination of a non-Pashtun leader from Hazara Division for the slot of the provincial president is being resisted by Pashtun leaders,” the source added. He said PML-N’s Pashtun workers were supporting Iqbal Zafar Jhagra and the same differences on giving priority to party leaders from Hazara Division had forced Saranjaam Khan to resign from basic membership of the party.
PML-N secretary information Senator Mushahid Ullah Khan said the delay in holding intra-party polls in the provinces was due to the floods in Sindh and Balochistan. “To finalise schedule for holding polls in the provinces would be the top of agenda in party’s next meeting but no date for the meeting has been decided,” he added.