HYDERABAD: Shah Mohammad Shah and Senator Saleem Zia were elected unopposed as the president and general secretary, respectively, of the Sindh chapter of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the election held in a private hall in Latifabad here on Sunday.

However, a group of party workers challenged Mr Shah’s eligibility to contest for or hold the party office, arguing that he did not meet the criteria for the post as spelt out in the party’s constitution.

The group held a protest against Mr Shah’s elevation to the post from that of vice president.

On his part, Mr Shah -- who also spoke at the post-election press conference addressed by senior PML-N leader and Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood -- disowned the group, saying that they [the protesting group] did not belong to the party. “We are not afraid of these unknown people,” he said.

The election results were announced by Rana Mashhood in the presence of other senior party leaders including Khealdas Kohistani, Khalid Shaikh, Jamal Arif Suharwardi and Hanif Siddiqui.

He said that Shah Mohammad Shah and Senator Saleem Zia would now visit various towns of Sindh to mobilise workers and strengthen the party.

He said the PML-N would field its candidates on all national and provincial seats. He expressed the confidence that the party would beat its rival Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in Sindh in the general election.

Rana Mashhood claimed that the PPP had failed to deliver in its decade-long rule over the province while the same was the case of PTI that ruled over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for five years. Instead of delivering, the two parties were busy holding rallies and sit-ins, he observed.

He appealed to the people of Sindh to stand up for their rights and support PML-N to see a “significant change” in Sindh like one could see in Punjab.

Mr Mashhood described Nawaz Sharif as a popular leader and his motto of ‘sanctity of vote’ as a popular slogan.

The country could not progress unless sanctity of vote was ensured, he said.

Justice should appear through judges’ verdicts and not their comments about politicians, he remarked.

Referring to certain rumours, he said [former interior minister] “Chau­dhry Nisar is a political heavyweight and does not need to join a party”.

In reply to a question, Mr Mashhood said that after the (PPP-PML-N) Charter of Democracy, a greater charter was needed now.

Meanwhile, Sindh PML-N working committee members Makhdoom Atta Hussain and Malik Raja Abdul Haq, along with some other activists including Rana Mohammad Khalid, Syed Fawwad Shah, Haji Akhtar Hussain and Kausar Bibi raised objection to the election of Shah Mohammad Shah as the provincial president of the party.

They held a protest demonstration outside the local press club and blocked the road. The convoy of Rana Mashhood and his companions was denied passage by opponents of Mr Shah as they kept raising the slogan ‘sanctity of vote ... sanctity of vote’. Some of the protesters lay in front of the vehicle carrying Rana Mashhood until police intervened to clear the road.

Later, speaking at a press conference at the press club, leaders of the protesting PML-N activists said Shah Mohammad Shah was a turncoat who changed several parties. They claimed that he was made the party’s Sindh president in violation of its constitution because he did not serve the party for eight-10 years to become eligible for such a post. “Mr Shah has been promoted to higher posts on the recommendation of President Mamnoon Hussain and Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair,” they claimed.

They said Mr Shah’s men supported by some policemen harassed them outside the hall which led to a brawl between them and his supporters and resulted in injuries to several party workers.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2018