PML-N facing uphill battle as election bells start ringing

Party’s Chief Organiser has limited time to mobilise workers, deliver results on polling day

LAHORE:

After what seemed like the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) hoping against hope for a delay in the Punjab Assembly polls, it has finally woken up to the possibility of elections happening on time and the party’s recently appointed Chief Organiser has a formidable task at hand.

Maryam Nawaz, who was appointed as the PML-N’s Senior Vice President and Chief Organiser only a couple of months back, is presently undertaking the complex challenge of galvanising the party’s support base so it can compete with the juggernaut narrative that former prime minister Imran Khan has managed to build ever since his ouster.

However, with party heavyweights like Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, and Rana Sanaullah, who happens to be the party’s President for Punjab, occupying key ministries in the federal government, Nawaz might have to take the electoral fight with Khan on her own - especially since, Hamza Shahbaz, who is widely regarded as the party’s expert on bringing voters out on election day, is abroad and has remained mum about his return to Pakistan.

“If elections are indeed held on 30th April, then Nawaz is facing an uphill battle,” observed Hassan Askari, a senior political analyst based in Lahore. Elaborating on his observation, Askari said that Nawaz has very little time to mobilise party workers, campaign, and then make sure people turn out to vote for the party.

“Apart from the paucity of time, the PML-N has other challenges to worry about as well. The party will be going on the campaign trail fully aware of the fact that it has to face the public’s anger for its economic performance in the past 11 months.”

The political analyst said that it seemed that the best scenario for the PML-N to avoid potential election-day setbacks would have been a delay in the polls.

“However, even if there is no delay in elections, Maryam Nawaz is working in the right direction by involving the party’s workers in building a narrative and reconciling with those that were disgruntled with the party,” opined Askari.

Shoaib Butt, an activist of the PML-N from the Gulshan-e-Ravi area of Lahore, agrees with Askari’s assessment.

“Party workers like myself were incredibly frustrated due to the lack of contact with the party’s leadership. Therefore, we welcome Maryam Nawaz’s move to galvanise the party’s workers and its support base,” he said.

However, Butt like Askari feels that competing with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will be a tough task given the double-digit inflation.

Concurring with Butt, Arif, a PML-N worker from Garhi Shahu, said that the people are angry with the party, therefore the government should consider giving relief to the masses before heading into the election.

“For as long as I can remember, this constituency was a PML-N stronghold and it could carve out a win comfortably. However, this time around the odds are not in our favour,” regretted Arif while talking to The Express Tribune.