Shehbaz moves to exert control on PML-N

Party leaders reportedly seeking meetings with Punjab CM

ISLAMABAD: Amidst reports of widening cracks in the ruling camp, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif is holding marathon meetings with office-bearers of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) from across the country in an apparent bid on his part to exert control over the party.

The development has set off alarm bells in the party circles close to the N-League’s chief and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, while efforts for a reconciliation between the two Sharif brothers have not worked so far, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Recently, the CM met in Lahore a delegation of the PML-N’s Sindh chapter, led by its President Saleem Zia. In the past few days, Shehbaz has held meetings with party office-bearers from various parts of Pakistan -- Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Federally Administered Tribal Areas.



Details of some of these meetings were made public but others were kept secret or low key since the office-bearers involved did not want the party’s central leadership to know about their interaction with the members of the ‘Shehbaz camp’, it is learnt.

This is said to have sent shockwaves in the elder Sharif’s camp at a time when reports are doing the rounds that the PML-N is on way to getting transformed into a ‘Shehbaz league’ with the Punjab CM as its head.

“He (Shehbaz) is a provincial government functionary. For him to meet the party office-bearers from different parts of the country means ‘something is going on’,” said a PML-N senator, wishing to be kept unnamed.

Shehbaz is also the Punjab PML-N President. “The pattern of the recent meetings indicates that he is set to make inroads at the centre,” the source said.



On the other hand, an insider in the PML-N’s Punjab chapter said the meetings were taking place at the request of the party’s office-bearers. “There has been much confusion and uncertainty in the party since Mian Sahib has been disqualified as prime minister and he has lately been staying in London. The party members need a leader to look to.”

About reports of Shehbaz being set to taking over the party’s reins, the politician said, “Someone has to take the charge -- a party like ours with representation in all parts of the country cannot be left to run like that.”

Source said the senior party leaders had been making efforts to mediate between the two Sharifs but the situation had not change mainly due to a rigid stance of the elder brother. “Mian Sahib is not ready to mend his ways and listen to his brother’s advice. He is on a collision course with state institutions and has sidelined party loyalists, including none other than his own brother. Things are not going to work this way.”

Punjab’s Law Minister and the CM’s close aide Rana Sanaullah termed Shehbaz’s meetings with party-office bearers a routine practice. “There is nothing new and unusual about these meetings. Even when PML-N was not in power at the centre or other provinces, such meetings continued because office-bearers interact with each other. That’s how political parties work.”

The minister said Shehbaz is respected in the party for his contribution and sacrifices for the PML-N. “What the Punjab CM has done for the PML-N is for everyone to see. He had a great role in keeping the party intact during Musharraf’s era when the dictator was all set to destroy us. This is the reason he commands wide respect and party leaders take guidance from him after Nawaz Sharif. He is like an ‘elder brother’ whose tall political standing is beyond any doubt.”

Lately, Shehbaz has mostly remained tight-lipped on his reported differences with his elder brother. On the other hand, the ex-PM’s daughter Maryam Nawaz has repeatedly denied the reports of a rift between the two Sharifs. She has also denied a recent statement attributed to her by a foreign media outlet that the ‘family’ had decided that she should be leading the party.