In the dark: PML-N’s K-P leadership clueless about moves in the centre

Remain absent from Nawaz Sharif and Chaudhry Nisar’s recent visits to K-P.

PESHAWAR:

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) seems to be facing a communication vacuum between its central and provincial leadership.

When Prime Minister and chief of PML-N Nawaz Sharif visited Swat last week, most of the party’s provincial leaders did not attend the ceremony convened to promote the Prime Minister Youth Loan Scheme. Similarly, when Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali visited Bannu on Monday, the party’s K-P chapter’s leaders were conspicuously absent.



A prominent political figure representing PML-N in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) blamed lack of coordination for the absence of the party’s provincial leadership. He added this dearth of communication was adversely affecting the party’s ranks.

“The central leadership is unhappy with the poor performance of the K-P chapter’s leadership in the general elections and is presumably ignoring us whenever they visit the province,” he claimed.

This was evident during Sharif’s visit to Swat, when PML-N K-P general secretary, provincial president and other important political figures were nowhere to be seen.

The party has successfully quelled earlier dissents in the recent past. Soon after Amir Muqam was stated to head the election campaign ahead of the 2013 general polls, other leaders voiced their grievances saying they were being sidelined. However, the apparent wedge between the provincial and central leaders is now posing a fresh challenge for the ruling party as even the stalwarts seem to be in the dark about upcoming visits.

When contacted, PML-N central information secretary of the youth wing, Ali Khan Yousafzai claimed senior leaders Mehtab Khan Abbasi, Pir Sabir Shah and Rahmat Salam Khattak could not attend Sharif’s public meeting in Swat as the information was shared with concerned persons at the “eleventh hour” due to security concerns.

Yousafzai, however, admitted most party leaders from K-P were concerned about inadequate coordination in the case of central leaders visiting the province. He maintained he himself could not reach Swat as cellular services were blocked on account of Eid Miladun Nabi and he received the message quite late. Only Amir Muqam and Zafar Jhagra among the party’s senior leadership of K-P were present in Swat as they set off from Islamabad, he added.

Another party leader from K-P was less forgiving. “Were the landlines not available to contact and inform the concerned people on time about Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Swat?” he asked, questioning the logic of withholding the information about the premier’s trip till the eleventh hour.

About Nisar’s visit to Bannu, Ali Khan Yousafzai and Rahmat Salam Khattak again expressed ignorance, saying they were not aware of the federal minister’s travel plans, let alone the nature of his visit.

Interestingly, PML-N’s spokesperson in K-P, Nasir Khan Musazai, said Nisar was visiting K-P to share minutes of the federal cabinet’s meeting on law and order with the K-P government. However, Musazi was proven wrong when Nisar flew straight to Bannu to express solidarity with victims of Sunday’s Bannu Cantonment blast.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2014.