Seraiki iceberg: Eight lawmakers jump PML-N ship

Announce goal of making South Punjab a separate province

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In a major blow to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Monday, eight legislators parted ways with the ruling party.

They also announced launching a mass movement, Junoobi Punjab Sooba Mahaaz, for the sole purpose of making South Punjab a separate province.

“Making South Punjab a separate province is a one-point agenda,” said MNA from PML-N seat Khusro Bakhtiar along with the other disgruntled parliamentarians during a news conference.

Bakhtiar said, “The poverty rate in South Punjab is over 51 per cent. I admire development in the provincial capital but I cannot forget the pain and sufferings of South Punjab where my ancestors are buried.”

He further said, “The time has come to make this dream a reality. In new South Punjab province, budget of one district will not be spent on another.”

Those who announced to quit the PML-N are former state minister for foreign affairs Bakhtiar, an MNA from Rahim Yar Khan; MNA Tariq Iqbal from Vehari; MNA Muhammad Qasim from Multan; MNA Basit Bukhari from Muzaffargarh; Sardar Dareshak, Saleem Ullah Chaudhry, Alam Dar Laleka and Syed Asghar Ali Shah.

Bakhtiar said, “Political leaders and people of South Punjab are with them and will soon join their alliance which will be led by former interim premier Balakh Sher Mazari and Sardar Dareshak as chairman and co-chairman, respectively.”

During the conference, two PML-N MPAs Ali Asghar Manda and Tariq Mehmood Bajwa also announced they will contest the upcoming general election as independent candidates.



Ali Asghar Manda has been a member of the Punjab Assembly since 2008. He was elected to the provincial assembly of Punjab as a candidate of PML-N from PP-165 Sheikhupura-IV constituency and was re-elected in 2013.

Tariq Mehmood Bajwa has also been a member of the Punjab Assembly since 2008. He was elected to the Punjab Assembly as a PML-N candidate from PP-170 Nankana Sahib-I constituency and re-elected in 2013.

Earlier in 2002, both the MPAs contested general elections as independent candidates but were not elected.

The party has been facing difficult times since July last year when its supremo Nawaz Sharif was disqualified as the premier by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case. In February this year, the top court also disqualified Sharif from heading the party as its president.