Ringing in changes: Nawaz revives system of contacts
Party colleagues disappointed over performance in the recent Senate polls
A file photo of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif scrambled to ring in the changes after the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) suffered setbacks in the Senate elections.
In response to the electoral setbacks, the prime minister has revived the old party system of contacts and coordination. At the same time, he set aside a group of concerned leaders from the upcoming party affairs who were tasked to ensure victory in the elections, sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune.
PM Nawaz asked his party’s senior leadership to take affairs into their own hands ahead of the upcoming local government (LG) elections either in the cantonment areas or in the provinces, they added.
The ruling party failed to emerge as the single largest majority in the March 5 polls and could not venture successful lobbying to secure the post of Senate chairman and deputy chairman.
Several party leaders such as Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and MNA Hamza Shahbaz expressed their reservations over the party’s below-par performance in the Senate elections before PM Nawaz and fixed responsibility of the failure on the team which was given the task by the prime minister.
The core team consisted of Federal Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, PM’s Political Secretary Dr Asif Kirmani and his Additional Secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad. The PML-N fell three seats short of its target, bagging 18 out of 21 seats that it was expected to pick up.
Pervaiz Rashid, according to sources, preferred to stay away from coordination with other political parties while Saad Rafique and Fawad Hassan were spearheading the effort to achieve the electoral targets.
They said that in stead of achieving the PML-N target of winning six seats from Balochistan, the federal railways minister and the additional secretary managed to cause fissures within the party as well as annoy Baloch tribal leaders. They also failed to coax Balochistan Assembly Speaker Mir Jan Muhammad Jamali into withdrawing his daughter from the Senate race.
In Punjab, the sources said, although the party bagged the desired number of seats, differences emerged as 10 MPAs voted for the PPP candidate Nadeem Afzal Chan.
Though Shahbaz Sharif telephoned Altaf Hussain for his support over the Senate top slots, the MQM supported the PPP, the sources added.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2015.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif scrambled to ring in the changes after the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) suffered setbacks in the Senate elections.
In response to the electoral setbacks, the prime minister has revived the old party system of contacts and coordination. At the same time, he set aside a group of concerned leaders from the upcoming party affairs who were tasked to ensure victory in the elections, sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune.
PM Nawaz asked his party’s senior leadership to take affairs into their own hands ahead of the upcoming local government (LG) elections either in the cantonment areas or in the provinces, they added.
The ruling party failed to emerge as the single largest majority in the March 5 polls and could not venture successful lobbying to secure the post of Senate chairman and deputy chairman.
Several party leaders such as Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and MNA Hamza Shahbaz expressed their reservations over the party’s below-par performance in the Senate elections before PM Nawaz and fixed responsibility of the failure on the team which was given the task by the prime minister.
The core team consisted of Federal Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, PM’s Political Secretary Dr Asif Kirmani and his Additional Secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad. The PML-N fell three seats short of its target, bagging 18 out of 21 seats that it was expected to pick up.
Pervaiz Rashid, according to sources, preferred to stay away from coordination with other political parties while Saad Rafique and Fawad Hassan were spearheading the effort to achieve the electoral targets.
They said that in stead of achieving the PML-N target of winning six seats from Balochistan, the federal railways minister and the additional secretary managed to cause fissures within the party as well as annoy Baloch tribal leaders. They also failed to coax Balochistan Assembly Speaker Mir Jan Muhammad Jamali into withdrawing his daughter from the Senate race.
In Punjab, the sources said, although the party bagged the desired number of seats, differences emerged as 10 MPAs voted for the PPP candidate Nadeem Afzal Chan.
Though Shahbaz Sharif telephoned Altaf Hussain for his support over the Senate top slots, the MQM supported the PPP, the sources added.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2015.