The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which is going through a structural overhaul ahead of general elections, has finally dropped the idea of splitting the party into separate chapters for Central Punjab and South Punjab.
The issue of splitting Punjab into two parts at party level gained steady buzz after the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) divided its Punjab chapter into two parts for Central and South Punjab on November 5, 2011
The PPP appointed Makhdoom Shahabuddin as president for the PPP-South Punjab, and Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, the erstwhile president of PPP-Punjab, as president for the PPP central Punjab.
Treading his rival’s trail, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif held a meeting on December 27, 2011 and discussed the idea of dividing the party’s Punjab chapter into two parts.
This bifurcation of the parties was aimed deepen the party’s presence in both South and Central Punjab as demands for a Saraiki province grew louder.
Sources close to the Sharifs told Pakistan Today that the PML-N was not panicking on the Saraiki issue. “It is deemed that the division of Punjab at party level would not reap any benefit, therefore there is no need to restructure the party on such grounds,” a party official said.
PML-N Information Secretary Mushahidullah Khan said the party would keep its Punjab chapter intact and has no intention to divide it into two parts.
Meanwhile, the PML-N has decided to appoint Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif as the party’s Punjab president during the current month. Earlier, senior party leader Khawaja Saad Rafiq was gearing up to become the party’s president in Central Punjab after crossing Hamza Shahbaz in the race for the important slot. On the other hand, Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa was likely to become the president of PML-N-South Punjab.
Nawaz had scheduled the party election at Punjab level for January 4, but postponed it later and also delayed the decision to appoint the party’s Punjab president.
Senior PML-N leader said that speculations were amuck about the party’s next secretary general in Punjab. Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khosa was out of the race after being adjusted as a senator.
Some party leaders believed that Khawaja Saad Rafiq was a better choice for the slot. Other names are being discussed, including Tehmina Doltana, Saif Khosa (younger son of Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khosa) and PML-N-Bahawalpur President Samiullah Khan.
