PML-N appears dejected after NA-4 defeat

Party leader says silence does not mean things have stopped altogether

PESHAWAR: Since the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lost NA-4 by-polls on October 26 last year, it has not carried out any political activity other than holding a few meetings of party workers.

Veteran PML-N workers say that the top party leadership was thinking that it would secure the constituency with a wide margin, but that did not happen.

“This happens when party workers and voters’ response give you hope; but when you lose, you lose all hope,” a senior party worker said.



However, the seasoned politician said that the silence did not mean that things had stopped altogether. It simply meant that the leadership was focusing on the general elections, he added.

“There is uncertainty among leaders at the national level, but this is not happening for the first time and politicians always take such things in stride,” he said.

He said that the party leadership was trying to determine what went wrong and why it did not fare well in the constituency in question. Introduction of new faces could not be ruled out, he added.



The last time the PML-N had held a political gathering was days before the NA-4 by-poll while the latest one was a press conference at the PML-N secretariat in the provincial capital.

The PML-N leader said that groupings in the party had an impact on the results of 2013 general elections and by-polls in various Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) constituencies.

“These groups unanimously accepted Ameer Muqam’s status as the party’s provincial president and Muqam has been making efforts to end differences among party workers,” he said, adding that no one violated any party decision made by Muqam.



He said that bringing people within the party fold at village and union council levels were more helpful, adding that running party affairs and launching development schemes required time. He said that party activities were happening but large public gatherings would start soon enough.

“We will make a comeback with vengeance. This is why we are focusing on bringing more people into the party ranks and increasing our strength,” he said.