PML-N’s elections soured by racket, resignation

Party leader Saranjam Khan resigns, alleges senior leaders are being sidelined.

PESHAWAR:

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz received another blow on Wednesday when a senior leader from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Saranjam Khan, announced his resignation from party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) in protest against the announcement of party’s provincial office bearers.

The provincial elections were immediately called for to address workers’ grievances after estranged senior party leader Javed Hashmi quit the PML-N on December 24.

“Nawaz Sharif was involved in conniving for Rehmat Salam Khattak’s appointment [party’s newly appointed provincial general secretary],” an angry Saranjam told The Express Tribune.

He also alleged that senior party members were being sidelined. He ruled out switching over to the Awami National Party, though. Saranjam said he has only resigned from the party’s CEC, not from its basic membership.

Saranjam’s resignation, and an earlier ruckus during the party’s general council meeting in Nawaz’s presence, cast a blot on the party’s reorganisation drive. Nawaz had met Saranjam earlier on Tuesday, in an effort to woo him back into the party.

Ruckus in the house

When Khattak was announced the provincial general secretary by the party’s chief election commissioner Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, supporters of two female candidates, Mehr Sultana and MPA Shazia Aurangzeb, staged a protest and clashed with Khattak’s supporters.

When Jhagra was unable to resolve the racket, Nawaz went up to the dias, following which the female candidates retracted their candidature.

At this point, Saranjam walked out against the nominations, and said he was not ready to accept anyone as his leader without proper elections held according to the party’s constitution.

The party announced Pir Sabir Shah as the provincial president and Anwar Kamal Marwat, Abdur Razaq, Malik Jehanzeb and Abdul Subhan Khan as provincial vice presidents. The provincial president was asked to nominate other office bearers.

Railing against the government

In his address following the elections, the PML-N chief hit out at the government for “following pro-US policies of Mushrraf’s regime” at the cost of Pakistan’s sovereignty.

Pakistan, particularly K-P and the tribal areas, has suffered immensely in the war on terror, he said.

The government has also failed to address challenges like the energy crisis, economy, unemployment and terrorism, Nawaz said.

He added that the government intentionally kept the public in the dark about issues like Memogate, the Abbottabad raid, drone pact with the US and the attack on PNS Mehran. Nawaz said he moved the Supreme Court as a last resort over the Memogate issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29^th, 2011.