NA-122 by-poll: ‘Lack of formal body may affect outcome’

PML-N leader says office bearers will be notified after the by-poll

LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is yet to notify any office-holder in PP 148 – one of the two provincial assembly constituencies in NA-122.

Party workers complain that lack of a formal organisation will affect performance in the NA-122 by-poll, scheduled for October 11.

The by-poll was announced after PML-N National Assembly Member Ayaz Sadiq was de-seated by an Election Tribunal hearing PTI chairman Imran Khan’s petition challenging Sadiq’s election from the constituency in 2013. The tribunal had also ordered a by-poll in PP-147 (the other provincial assembly seat in NA-122).

Sadiq is contesting the NA-122 by-poll on the PML-N’s ticket. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) Aleem Khan is the other major contestant. In PP 147, Mohsin Latif is contesting on a PML-N ticket and Shoaib Siddiqi on PTI’s ticket.

Polling data available with The Express Tribune shows that 59 per cent of the voters in NA-122 fall in PP-148. There are 330,376 registered voters in NA 122. Of these, 195,026 are registered in PP 148.

PTI’s Mian Aslam Iqbal is the MPA from PP 148.

Party workers say a good show in PP 148 will be crucial  in retaining the national assembly seat. They say a constituency-level organisation should have been notified in PP 148 immediately after the loss of election in 2013.

They say Mian Tariq, a political adviser to the chief minister, is single-handedly managing the by-poll campaign in PP-148.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a former PML-N MPA from PP-148 says it is the only provincial assembly seat in the city where the party is yet to notify a formal organisation.

MNA Talal Chaudhry, a member of the PML-N media team for the by-poll campaign, dismisses the suggestion that lack of a formal organisation can affect electoral performance.

“Hamza Shahbaz (PML-N MNA from NA-119) is supervising the party’s campaign for all upcoming by-elections.

He is dealing with complaints received from workers and will ensure that no grievance is left unheard,” he said.

Mian Tariq says that rather than harming the party’s performance, the lack of a formal organisation in PP-148 will strengthen its position in the by-poll.

He says the party wants to avoid a situation where workers who don’t get an office in the formal body may end up distancing themselves from its affairs.

“We will notify office bearers after the by-poll,” he says.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2015.