PML-N’s provincial chief to face ‘familiar’ opponent

Amir Muqam to face former party candidate Nasir Musazai in general elections

PESHAWAR: As the PTI tinkers with tickets for its nominated candidates adjusting new entrants and old workers, it has apparently pitched a former candidate of its rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) against the party’s provincial president.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has handed a ticket for the national assembly constituency NA-29 to former PML-N leader Nasir Musazai. In doing so, he would be competing against PML-N’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) President Amir Muqam.

Curiously, Musazai had been brought into politics by Muqam for NA-29 [formerly NA-4] and ran a massive campaign for his election during the November 2017 by-polls.



Apart from the innate rivalry, they also make up the main contest in the constituency since they enjoy massive support from the area.

Muqam will be contesting from the area for the third time, terming it his home constituency. However, he has little to show for it, having failed to win on all three occasions.

Musazai too found the going tough in the area. He was twice defeated by the PTI from the area, first in the 2013 general elections, and then in the by-elections.

With the PTI in a fix after running into a quandary over tickets for former provincial information minister Shah Farman, Muqam is considered to be favourite for the constituency. But with the PTI now handing a ticket to Musazai, it promises to be a close contest.



Musazai’s former provincial chief Muqam though has opted for the moral high ground, by refusing to take pot shots at his opponent, at least not yet.

“Not at all, I do not want to speak, [referring to the battle between himself and the man he had supported in the last by-polls],” Muqam categorically told The Express Tribune, adding, “I have been visiting the area as I call it my home constituency and the rest is on the voters [to decide].”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2018.