RAWALPINDI: The PML-N has not announced which party candidates will fill the reserved seats in the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) and the district council, and will issue party tickets following intra-party elections for central and provincial leadership on Oct 18 and 19, respectively.

All local PML-N leaders are members of the central general council, and will cast their votes in the elections for PML-N’s central and provincial presidents and general secretaries in Islamabad and Lahore.

The Election Commission of Pakistan issued an election schedule for the RMC and district council reserved seats, according to which Saturday was the last day to file nomination papers.

Reserved seat elections for the district council and RMC will be held on Nov 8, and in union councils on Nov 12.

Local party leaders identify intra-party elections, infighting as reasons for delay

Elections will be held on 10 seats for women, two seats each for technocrats, peasants/workers and minorities and one youth seat. PML-N has a two third majority in the district council and RMC, while the PPP, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Awami Muslim League (AML) hold six seats between them, out of a total 46 RMC members.

A senior party leader identified two main reasons for the delay in issuing party tickets for the reserved seats: intra-party elections and party infighting.

He said the party failed to finalise its list of women candidates because PML-N city president Sardar Naseem, who is a candidate for the mayor of Rawalpindi, wished to include women workers from his group while Ziaullah Shah wanted party tickets for his sisters and Arslan Hafeez, to whom MNA Tahira Aurangzeb is a patron, wanted to give party tickets to his group’s workers.

“Former MNA Hanif Abbasi brought in Rahat Qadoosi for the technocrat seat, and there was a rumour that he wanted to make mayor as that was done in Islamabad; Islamabad’s mayor was elected on a technocrat seat,” the party leader said.

He said MPA Raja Hanif’s relatives and friends had also applied for the technocrat seat, while Sardar Naseem’s son filed a nomination for the youth seat.

Meanwhile, another local PML-N leader said things would change if the party’s Punjab president changed in the upcoming intra-party election.

“At present, Shahbaz Sharif is PML-N Punjab president and labour minister Raja Ashfar Sarwar is secretary general. If Hamza Shahbaz arrives as Punjab president, he would not bring [Mr Sarwar] as secretary general, and this change will affect the party’s political scene at the district and city levels,” he explained.

He said Hamza Shahbaz and Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan also have differing perspectives on political and party matters, and if Shahbaz Sharif is replaced by his son, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s role in regional party affairs would be limited.

He said this is why local leaders are waiting for the party elections’ results before finalising the names of candidates for the reserved seats.

When contacted, Sardar Naseem said the party was finalising the list, and party tickets will be issued to candidates before the last date to submit party tickets.

Mr Naseem said there were no differences within the party over the issue, and that all matters would be resolved by consulting with the party leadership. He said the final decision would be made by the central and provincial party leadership.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2016