ISLAMABAD, Oct 6: The election for the office of Rawal Town nazim has once again exposed the rift and lack of trust between the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), the two main components of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), as both the parties held each other responsible for the defeat.

According to unofficial results, Sheikh Rashid Shafiq of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) has won the Rawal Town nazim seat by securing 262 votes. Mian Khurram Rasul of the PPP bagged 168 votes and Sardar Nasim of the PML-N got 130 votes.

As expected, Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, the nephew of Federal Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, took advantage of the rift within the ARD and became the nazim of the area from where he had lost the National Assembly seat some three years ago.

Both candidates of the PPP and the PML-N got a total of 306 votes against 262 votes secured by Sheikh Rashid Shafiq.

When contacted, Sardar Nasim alleged that the PPP and the ruling PML had joined hands only to defeat the PML-N, which was playing the role of the actual opposition in the country. He said Federal Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed had been running a propaganda campaign against him for the past one month and even tried to get him disqualified.

When asked as to why the PPP and the PML-N failed to reach an agreement despite being partners in the ARD, Sardar Nasim said several rounds of talks were held between the two parties in the last one month, but the PPP backed out from the agreed formulas every time.

In response to a question as to why the PML-N itself did not withdraw from the race in order to defeat the government-backed candidate and in the larger interest of the ARD if the PPP leaders were adamant, he said the PPP leaders were themselves divided over the nomination of a consensus candidate. He said the PML-N had thrown the ball in the court of the PPP, but they failed to respond positively.

When asked about the future strategy for the election of deputy district and towns nazims, Sardar Nasim said it was difficult for the PML-N to make any adjustment with the PPP after the defeat in the third phase of the polls.

“Our workers are angry over the role played by the local leadership of the PPP and, therefore, it will not be possible for us to offer any kind of cooperation to the PPP in future,” he said.

On the other hand, PPP Secretary-General Raja Pervaiz Ashraf dispelled the impression that the government-backed candidate had won the Rawal Town seat because of the rift between the opposition parties. He claimed that Sheikh Rashid Shafiq would have bagged 50 more votes had the PPP and the PML-N joined hands.

Mr Ashraf said according to reports coming from various parts of the country, only PML-Q was winning from Karachi to Peshawar. He said such results were possible only in communist- ruled countries. He said the government had broken all records of rigging in the local government elections and it proved that there was dictatorship in the country.

In response to a question, Mr Ashraf said it was true that despite hectic and sincere efforts, the PPP and PML-N unfortunately failed to finalize a consensus candidate for the office of Rawal Town nazim. However, he said, it was due to some “local problems”.