The PML-N’s internal electoral machine is whirring away. On Sunday, three from the Royal Family applied for party tickets. One, former chief minister and, presumably, the party’s candidate for prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif. Second, the heir-apparent Maryam Nawaz. Third, of course, was Hamza Shehbaz.
There were a bit of theatrics involved, of course. The former CM made a hyperbolic speech in front of the party (de facto) chief Nawaz Sharif.
An interesting aspect is Shehbaz Sharif applying for three (count them: three) National Assembly seats from Karachi. It hasn’t been decided yet as to how many seats he will be contesting from in total.
Speaking of Karachi, one of the rumoured three seats that Maryam Nawaz is going to be contesting from is expected to be Karachi. Interesting focus on Karachi. One needs all the seats that one can get, of course, but it remains to be seen whether the League can eke anything out of that metropolis.
Yes, a lot of virgin territories have opened up after the whole MQM drama. As the reader would know, a free election isn’t the freedom and security of election day, but also the freedom of all parties, big and small, to canvass in peace. In that regard, it might be Karachi’s first relatively free election in some time, so a lot of opportunities for all parties.
But one would expect the city to be a contest between the Baby MQMs (MQM-PIB, MQM-Bahadurabad and PSP), the PPP and the PTI. Where would the League figure in the city – big names like Shehbaz and Maryam notwithstanding – remains to be seen. Many would bet their money on the PPP in this regard.
Speaking of the PPP, that other royal family is also gearing up. After Bilawal, Aseefa Bhutto is also going to be given a ticket to run from Larkana. This year, she just hit the minimum age to be a legislator.
Meanwhile, Chaudhry Nisar is going to be running from four constituencies, including his stronghold Chakri as an independent, since there had been no consensus between the Sharif brothers on his candidature.
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The ANP has also announced 30 or so tickets for the National Assembly. A lot of these were expected names. But one name in particular, though also expected, has led to outcry by the ideological workers of the party (perhaps generally more spirited in their criticism of the party leadership than the cadre of any other party in the country.)
And that is Himayatullah Mayar, Mardan Nazim, being given PA-51. Mayar is widely believed to have been supporting the killers of Mashal Khan in Mardan and isn’t a favourite amongst the secular-minded ideological voters of the party. Social media ablaze with criticism written in Roman Pashto.
Mayar might be difficult to ditch for former CM and current party KP president Amir Haider Hoti, who relies on him to do some of the running-around in Mardan.