Nawaz Sharif’s sleepless nights
Prospect of losing key figures to Imran Khan from this region must be giving the PML-N leadership sleepless nights.
The PML-N just can’t seem to shake off Imran Khan. Yesterday, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah again spent most of his discussion with reporters at the Punjab Assembly talking about the Tehreek-i-Insaf’s sharp rise. The press corps suggested that the skipper was on a roll and the PML-N on the run. The minister shrugged. “Javed Hashmi was the first and last PML-N defection,” he retorted, obviously unaware of the developments at Raiwind over the last two days.
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif assembled the inner circle and asked them to get in touch with the heavyweights that have been on the sidelines since the 2008 elections. People like Rana Nazir from Gujranwala, Rana Tanvir from Sheikhupura, the Raja brothers from Jhelum, Saad Rafiq, Ayaz Amir and Zahid Hamid, among others kept out of the decision-making loop. All these MNAs swear allegiance to the party and Nawaz Sharif, for now. Most of them belong to the so called ‘N-belt’ which runs through central and northern Punjab. This is the area Nawaz Sharif is worried about and has, according to party insiders, asked his inner circle to work on.
The prospect of losing key figures to Imran Khan from this region must be giving the PML-N leadership sleepless nights. Their support in Kasur, Lahore, Sialkot and Sheikhupura forms a strong pillar for the party’s foundation. Any signs of cracks here and it may tear apart at the seams. Unfortunately for the PML-N, the members of the core committee formed by the party president to firm up support among sidelined MNAs are hated by the same MNAs.
Imran Khan and his Tehreek-i-Insaf, meanwhile, continue to gain momentum. PTI leaders say Khan will push hard for the middle-class, urban central and northern Punjab constituencies that were swept by the PML-N in the last general elections. He will be helped by the incumbency factor clearly working against the PML-N in Punjab. Khan has thrown down the gauntlet and now it’s Sharif’s to pick up. Back in the assembly cafeteria, the discussion moved to Khan’s Karachi show. One prominent PML-N MPA from Lahore said that there were visible signs of concern within the top leadership and in the rank and file. He agreed that Hashmi would not be the last defector from the party. The only way for the PML-N to salvage something from the elections, he said, would be if they were held early. Khan, he felt, still needs time to build support and win votes. Time is of the essence here.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 28th, 2011.
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif assembled the inner circle and asked them to get in touch with the heavyweights that have been on the sidelines since the 2008 elections. People like Rana Nazir from Gujranwala, Rana Tanvir from Sheikhupura, the Raja brothers from Jhelum, Saad Rafiq, Ayaz Amir and Zahid Hamid, among others kept out of the decision-making loop. All these MNAs swear allegiance to the party and Nawaz Sharif, for now. Most of them belong to the so called ‘N-belt’ which runs through central and northern Punjab. This is the area Nawaz Sharif is worried about and has, according to party insiders, asked his inner circle to work on.
The prospect of losing key figures to Imran Khan from this region must be giving the PML-N leadership sleepless nights. Their support in Kasur, Lahore, Sialkot and Sheikhupura forms a strong pillar for the party’s foundation. Any signs of cracks here and it may tear apart at the seams. Unfortunately for the PML-N, the members of the core committee formed by the party president to firm up support among sidelined MNAs are hated by the same MNAs.
Imran Khan and his Tehreek-i-Insaf, meanwhile, continue to gain momentum. PTI leaders say Khan will push hard for the middle-class, urban central and northern Punjab constituencies that were swept by the PML-N in the last general elections. He will be helped by the incumbency factor clearly working against the PML-N in Punjab. Khan has thrown down the gauntlet and now it’s Sharif’s to pick up. Back in the assembly cafeteria, the discussion moved to Khan’s Karachi show. One prominent PML-N MPA from Lahore said that there were visible signs of concern within the top leadership and in the rank and file. He agreed that Hashmi would not be the last defector from the party. The only way for the PML-N to salvage something from the elections, he said, would be if they were held early. Khan, he felt, still needs time to build support and win votes. Time is of the essence here.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 28th, 2011.