RAWALPINDI: Despite getting a two-third majority, the ruling PML-N failed to finalise the names of Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment boards’ vice-presidents due to groupings in the party.

On April 25, the PML-N won 19 out of the 20 seats of the two cantonment boards while the remaining seat went to Jamaat-i-Islami.

On May 29, two minority and peasant seats in each of the cantonment boards would be filled. However, the ruling party’s four members for minority and peasant seats in both the cantonment boards have been elected unopposed as no one submitted nomination papers against them.

Chaudhry Iftikhar and Pervaiz Sahotra were the nominees of the party for peasant and minority seats in the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board and Malik Munir and Yousuf Gill for the two seats in the Chaklala Cantonment Board.

However, the names of the vice-presidents are yet to be finalised by the ruling party.

Four ruling party members elected unopposed on minority, peasant seats in two cantonment boards

After the selection of the peasant seat members, the ruling party’s main local leaders faced criticism from the workers as Chaudhry Iftikhar is a nephew of Senator Chaudhry Tanveer Khan and Malik Munir is brother-in-law of MNA Malik Abrar.

For the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board, Raja Jehandad’s name is almost final but the ruling party failed to choose between Chaudhry Iftikhar and Raja Irfan Imtiaz.

A senior party leader told Dawn that the ruling party faced problems in finalising the name of the vice-president as Chaudhry Tanveer’s nephew Chaudhry Iftikhar was also an expected candidate in the Chaklala Cantonment Board.

However, he said some local leaders had promised with Raja Irfan Imtiaz to make him the vice-president if he won the elections. He said to tackle the issue, Chaudhry Tanveer came with the idea to make both of the as the vice-president turn by turn for two years.

Though the CCB comprised the constituency of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan (NA-53), he is not playing any active role in the local government affairs and Senator Chaudhry Tanveer has emerged as the main leader of the area, he said.

When contacted, PML-N Rawalpindi president Sardar Naseem said the party would announce the names of the vice-presidents in coming days.

He said there was no problem in the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board but some issues were pending regarding the vice-president of the Chaklala Cantonment Board which would also be resolved soon.

He said the party would start preparations for the Islamabad and Punjab local government elections after completing the cantonment board elections.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2015

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