Battle lines drawn: Senate elections heighten tensions within PML-N

Party’s MNAs from FATA field their own candidate for polls.

SHABQADAR:

Differences within the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the tribal belt have deepened with the upcoming Senate elections.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the PML-N has been divided into two groups. One of the factions is led by Prime Minister’s special adviser Amir Muqam while the other group is led by PML-N’s provincial general secretary Rahmat Salam Khattak.

The conflict between both groups arose in 2012 when Muqam left Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and joined the PML-N. A large number of PML-Q workers also followed in his footsteps. However, over the last two years, the gap between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ workers has grown significantly. Both groups have repeatedly blamed each other for trying to weaken the party. This division has also spread to the tribal belt now.

With Senate elections around the corner, both groups have been locked in a political tug-of-war.

On Friday, three PML-N MNAs from Fata decided to nominate their own candidate for the Senate polls. Sanaullah Khan is the brother of Ghalib Khan, one of the three parliamentarians.

By fielding their own candidate, the three MNAs have shown their support for Muqam’s faction.

Earlier this week, the party’s president in Mohmand Agency, Zar Khan Safi, raised concern over the fact that PML-N’s president in Bajaur, Haji Rahat Yousaf, has been issued a ticket for the polls whereas no candidate had been nominated from Muqam‘s group. However, he blamed Muqam for the rift in the party. This statement unleashed a war of words between both factions.

Subsequently, two leaders from Amir Muqam’s faction in Mohmand Agency, Ali Haider and Behram Khan, accused Khattak of trying to hatch a conspiracy to weaken the party.

Furthermore, they requested Governor Mehtab Abbasi not to support Khattak’s faction. In retaliation, Nisar Khan Haleemzai and other members of the opposing faction also held a news conference where they castigated Muqam’s group and demanded action be taken against them.

A few days earlier, PML-N’s general secretary in Bajaur, Haji Gul Kareem, had said that the division of the party in Fata would impact the outcome of the Senate polls and cause problems for the party.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2015.