PPP weakens in Swat: Dost Muhammad Khan joins PML-N

The veteran politician is among the PPP’s founding members.

SWAT: Former provincial general secretary of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Dost Mohammad Khan, joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Friday, in a move which may weaken the PPP in the district.

The decision was taken in a meeting with PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad on Thursday. However, it is yet to be announced in a press conference, which will be held soon.

“PPP has become the Zardari Limited party, where everything is sold and there is no place for ideological workers,” Khan is reported to have said in the meeting.

With the veteran politician joining the PML-N, the PPP will get weaker in the region. The party is already divided and Khan is a senior and influential leader in Upper Swat.

Political analysts say the position of the PML-N in Swat is getting stronger by the day because of Senior Vice President Amir Muqam. “If Dost Mohammad Khan contests elections from PK-84, there is no doubt that he will win the seat,” said political activist Sher Zaman Khan.

Khan, a veteran politician hailing from Swat, is counted among the founding members of the PPP. He joined the party in 1969 and was elected to the provincial assembly from PK-80 in 1977, 1990 and 1993.

“He was an ideological PPP worker who loved Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. His resignation from the party is shocking news for the PPP,” said political activist Iqbal Danish.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2013.