LAHORE: The PML-N is going to hold election to all vacant central offices in its General Council meeting in Islamabad on Sept 7.

This was disclosed by a close aide of the Sharifs to Dawn amid news that the party is going to elect its new president at the meeting after a schedule for the election process was issued.

The council, the electorate for electing central office-bearers, comprises more than 1,600 members.

A party notification says Senator Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal has been appointed election commission chairman, while Babu Sarfraz Jatoi, Ali Afzal Jadoon, Najma Hameed and Amir Afzal Mandokhel have been appointed members of the body to conduct the election process.

Senator Sardar Yaqoob Nasar from Balochistan is presently serving as acting party head after Nawaz Sharif was barred from holding the office on being disqualified under the Panama verdict.

Many in the party believe that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has again become a hot favourite for the post after reports of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz suffering from cancer emerged. Earlier, Ms Kulsoom was being pitched as the likely choice for the slot.

A party official told Dawn that Shahbaz could not be appointed acting president because he is Punjab chapter chief and not central senior vice president of the party, a requirement under the PML-N constitution for holding office as an interim arrangement.

The party is working without a secretary general for one and a half years. It will be interesting to see if the council also fills this important office. The notification issued for election of the president is silent on the issue though.

The secretary general’s office got vacant after former office-holder, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, was appointed Khyber Pakhutnkhwa governor on March 4, 2016. To one’s astonishment, the party’s official website still mentions Mr Jhagra as the secretary general.

If elections to the slot are held then former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor Sardar Mehtab Abbasi, former chief minister of the province Pir Sabir Shah, Federal Climate Change Minister Mushahidullah Khan could be the potential candidates as they were considered popular among the council members.

Senator Pervaiz Rashid is also a hot favourite provided it is ignored that both main slots should not go to Punjab.

A source, however, said that Mr Abbasi is reluctant to run for office though some senior party leaders are urging him to accept the responsibilities.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2017