Election preparations in full swing

PML-N and PTI are hoping to carve out a crucial Punjab win to decide who will run the country

LAHORE:

Sooner or later the Election Commission of Pakistan, as per its Constitutional mandate, will have to step in to resolve the deadlock on appointing the caretaker Chief Minister (CM) in Punjab but the uncertainty on which party will eventually come into power will remain.

The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and its allies in the centre seem to be burning their political capital on a daily basis as double-digit inflation and a deteriorating economy reign supreme. Whereas, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), absolved of its past governance mistakes has gone from strength to strength and has been riding its popularity wave successfully so far.

However, with elections to be conducted within 90-days of an Assembly’s dissolution, the PML-N has not shied away from claiming that it will come into power once again. As for the PTI, it is confident that with the efforts of former prime minister (PM) Imran Khan and incumbent CM Chaudhary Parvez Elahi, there will be next to no competition for them come election day.

As far as the PML-N is concerned, according to party sources privy to matter, the PML-N will start the ticket allocation process soon and it is anticipated that new candidates will be given a chance to challenge the PTI.

In this regard, a meeting of the senior leadership of the PML-N is set to take place soon, and the party’s Quaid, Nawaz Sharif, and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who was recently made the party’s Senior Vice President, are expected to lay out a game plan. Furthermore, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, who has largely remained absent from the political scene since his short stint as CM, is also expected to return to Pakistan and resume his involvement in Punjab’s politics.

The Express Tribune also learnt that former PM Sharif, who is currently residing in London, has given clear instructions to all party leaders to launch a hands on door-to-door campaign to stifle the PTI’s popularity. However, Dr Yasmin Rashid, President of PTI Punjab, believes that it is unlikely that the PML-N and its allies can counter the PTI’s juggernaut. “The PML-N is done in Punjab. The people know that the PML-N has made their lives miserable with inflation and has ruined the economy with its policies,” Dr Rashid remarked, adding that all the PML-N has done is fill its own coffers since April. The PTI’s Punjab President was of the view that come election day, the public will give a befitting response to the coalition government in the centre by bringing the PTI to power once again.

“Therefore, the federal government should put an end to this misery, dissolve the National Assembly and go home.” On the other hand, Attaullah Tarar, PML-N leader and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Interior and Legal Affairs, opined that the PTI was delusional about its popularity. “The people of Punjab remember the loot and plunder that was done under the Usman Buzdar era,” said Tarar, “moreover, the people know that Imran Khan has destroyed the country’s province for his personal whims.”

The SAPM further said that Punjab’s populace still trusted Nawaz Sharif and would show this on election day. When asked if the party Quaid was returning anytime from London, Tarar said, “Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz will be with the public soon.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2023.