PML-N Abbottabad rift deepens after Mehtab ignored

Ex-provincial governor vows to abide by party decision as party workers seethe

ABBOTTABAD: A former provincial governor and adviser to the prime minister, who is facing the prospect of being left without a party ticket come election day, has reiterated his commitment to abide by whatever the party heads decide.

It has even started a mini-revolt in Abbottabad with at least four Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ticket holders from the area apparently tendering their resignation, deepening a rift within the party.



The party had awarded a ticket for the National Assembly (NA)-15 seat to former deputy National Assembly speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi over former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan.

Mehtab, while speaking to the media from his residence late on Monday evening, said that a number of party workers, including 30 elected members of the district council and Tehsil council, had expressed their anger over the ticket award. However, he insisted that he will not go against the party policy.

He further urged the four Abbottabad ticket holders, PK-39’s Inyat Iqbal Jadoon, PK-38’s Arshad Khan, PK-37’s Aurangzeb Nalota and PK-36’s Sardar Fareed to run their election campaign as per normal and be calm.

Apart from the ticket holders and local government members, at least two Senators, including Barrister Javed Abbasi and Sahibzada Pir Sabir Shah, have also expressed solidarity with Mehtab and have recorded their reservations with the party.



Mehtab and Murtaza were interested in the ticket for the national assembly from Abbottabad. Both, however, had opted for NA-15 Abbottabad-I. The former usually contests from the Abbottabad city area but the recent delimitations placed eight union councils in NA-15.

This prompted Mehtab to opt for NA-15 where Murtaza was also contesting.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2018.