Fatalism in air as PML-N sees no hope in by-polls

With traditional canvassing conspicuously missing in three crucial Punjab constituencies, there was a sense of fatalism among PML-N candidates, who are heading into Sunday’s by-polls with PTI’s swelling clout in the political capital eating away at PML-N’s popularity, party sources said on Friday.

Making the prospects grimmer is the nonchalant attitude of PDM leaders who have pointedly signalled their unwillingness to aid their coalition partner in salvaging its chances of securing the seats, the sources said.

Tired hopelessness afflicted even those who are publicly optimistic as the party appeared to have resigned to the prospect of an “inevitable failure” at the ballot box. Thus, the party has quietly decided against squandering its energies in campaigning for the “lost battle”.

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The deadline for campaigning for by-polls ended at midnight on Friday.

‘Mysterious quietism’

Besides, offering another glimpse into the deepening peril is the sudden counterintuitive decision of PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz to leave for London – the Sharif scion on whose wings the party traditionally rides to heal its fledgling political fortunes by fielding her on the ground to head its canvassing single-handedly.

Similarly, the party candidates also fumed about Hamza Shehbaz’s “mysterious” quietism as the ground continues to slip.

“When Maryam Nawaz used to zoom around the constituencies during elections, our campaign would be injected with much-needed life. The masses would be galvanised, the sources quoted the candidates as saying.

This is a departure from how things used to be in the “erstwhile citadel of the Sharifs”, the observers noted, and recalled that in the past, Hamza Shehbaz used to heavily invest in running campaigns by forming various committees and taking reports from them day in and day out.

The sources further said that the PML-N candidates could not get any practical support from the party or government allies and the leaders of the coalition parties were only busy issuing statements instead of doing something substantial.

Conversely, no major leader from the PML-N was seen campaigning for PPP’s Ali Musa Gillani either. Gillani is running from NA-157 Multan. The scenario is similar in the constituencies of Faisalabad and Nankana Sahib.

However, it was only in PP-139 (Sheikhupura-V) that former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi could be seen addressing an election campaign rally. The said constituency falls under the NA constituency of Rana Afzal, brother of Federal Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain.

Due to the absence of Maryam Nawaz and Hamza Shehbaz, the PML-N candidates have been left to fend for themselves amid strong headwinds as, unlike past practices, no central official has been assigned regular duties for the canvassing.

It may be noted here that a day earlier, party sources had told The Express Tribune that the decision of Maryam Nawaz to leave the country forthwith was taken after concerns expressed in the reports of the government agencies regarding the preparations of arch-rival PTI's long march and its possible success.

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Therefore, instead of waiting for the other shoe to drop, Maryam – like the rest of her siblings – took refuge under the wings of her father in London, sources said.

To avoid any such potential political firestorm, Maryam set sail for London at 10am on October 5 – less than 24 hours after her passport was returned to her through an order by the Lahore High Court – on party supremo and her father Nawaz Sharif’s instructions, the sources had said.