Though it seems to be too late and the chances to reap political mileage from the move have dipped significantly at a crucial time when Senate elections are drawing closer and preparations for general elections are gathering steam, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is finally on the go to embrace PML-Quaid dissidents, deeming their return the missing link to winning the lost game.
Whether it is a sign of panic or of arising from a slumber, the stage is set for the PML-N to get back a majority of PML-Q leaders, especially PML-Likeminded and others who parted ways with the Chaudhrys for various reasons. However, the decision on whether or not to create room for the Chaudhrys is still on ice. The same is the case for some who remained outspoken cronies of former president Pervez Musharraf and inflicted irreparable damage on the Sharifs and their party.
An insider privy to the developments told Pakistan Today the PML-N had almost signalled to PML-Likeminded President Salim Saifullah, Humayun Akhtar, Kashmala Tariq, Akhtar Rasool, Sumera Malik, Riaz Mahmood and Fazle Haq to rejoin the party. There were scores of others who were on the way and might be reabsorbed into the party in a few days, the insider said. In the meantime, four PML-Likeminded leaders from Sindh met PML-N President Nawaz Sharif during his last visit to the province. They told him about their willingness to come back.
During his recent tour to Islamabad, the brother of Senator Tariq Azim (once a PML-Q central leader) hosted a dinner in honour of Nawaz Sharif. Around 13 incumbent MNAs and senators of the Likeminded group called on Nawaz and negotiated their rejoining. Expressing their desire to emerge as an independent group in the National Assembly, they clarified that if for any reason or legal hitch they failed to join the PML-N, they would lend all sort of support to it whenever required.
A senior PML-N leader termed the move a “paradigm shift” in the party, which remained inflexible at the time when flexibility was direly needed, because of the well-known obstinacy of Nawaz Sharif. Nawaz Sharif has identified several PML-Q leaders at different points in time that he said he would never accept back into the folds of the PML-N, however, a clear change in his stance was felt when he said the PML-N was in contact with the PML-Q, reports of which he had previously denied quite vehemently.
PML-N near to embracing PML-Q dissidents
