LAHORE: The PML-N is considering launching Maryam Nawaz’s son Junaid Safdar for its election campaign.

Mr Safdar, currently a student of politics at a UK university, reached Pakistan on Monday morning. He is expected to meet his grandfather Nawaz Sharif, father retired Capt Safdar and mother, all three imprisoned at Adiyala Jail.

A senior party official says whether Mr Safdar manages to visit his elders in jail or not, he is likely to address corner meetings in certain constituencies.

“Though many PML-N candidates are yearning to invite Safdar in their respective campaigns, it’s being planned to arrange corner meetings in constituencies NA-127 (Lahore-V), from where his mother had planned to contest before her disqualification; NA-132 (Lahore-X), the seat where PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif is a candidate; and in NA-59 (Rawalpindi-II), where incarcerated PML-N leader Raja Qamarul Islam is fighting against former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan,” the official says.

He says a decision on selecting more constituencies for Mr Safdar and content of his speeches will be taken after his meeting with his mother.

According to him, the party will release more audio and, if possible, video messages of Mr Sharif and her daughter during the party’s electioneering if the duo is denied bail in the Avenfield case.

One audio message each of the two leaders has already been released through the social media.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2018