LAHORE: As the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) decides to participate in the coming Senate elections, the PML-N on Friday invited the hopefuls to apply for the party tickets by Feb 15.

In a statement, the party secretary general directed the applicants to attach Rs50,000 bank draft with their applications and they must reach him in the next 10 days.

The PML-N faces a unique situation in this Senate election as the only place it is sure to get a few seats is Punjab. It is hoping to get five seats (three general, one technocrat and one woman) for sure given its numbers, and possibly another one if it manages a few more votes from other parties. Out of the 11 retiring senators this time, both PTI and PML-N can safely end up with five each. One seat, however, would be up for grabs and both parties are fighting hard for this one.

However, the trouble for the PML-N is accentuated by the fact that most of its stalwarts are retiring in March and they include names of Raja Zafarul Haq, Pervaiz Rashid, Mushahidullah Khan and last but not least, Prof Sajid Mir.

According to party insiders, all of them are political heavyweights – making it difficult for the party to decide who to drop. For example, Raja Zafarul Haq is party chairman and cannot be ignored. Mushahidullah Khan has been party face for the last two decades. Pervaiz Rashid, tutoring Maryam Nawaz, is really hard to ignore. Of late, Muhammad Zubair, former governor of Sindh, has also got his vote shifted to Punjab, hoping to win the favour as the most active party spokesman.

Shah Muhammad Shah, the party president from Sindh, has also shifted to Punjab, making party choices more difficult. These names are in addition to local party leaders such as Muhammad Mehdi who has been on the list for the last elections.

Overall, the situation for the party is getting difficult and the final word may come from supremo Nawaz Sharif because otherwise it can cause fissures in the party if it is left to a level lesser than Nawaz Sharif himself, they fear.

“If the PML-N can get its arithmetic right in the KP assembly, it may get another seat from there – and this arrangement has been one of the topics in the PDM meeting: how to maximise the numbers by helping each other,” says the party leader, who did not want to be named at this stage of decision-making. It is trying hard to adjust numbers with the help of JUI-F and other smaller parties in the KP assembly. It is offering support to the PPP for its bid on one of the two seats from the federal capital.

The PPP is considering fielding Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, former prime minister, from the capital after ensuring the right numbers. However, it is still an evolving situation, and no one is sure about the final outcome. Things may get clear in the next PDM meeting, he hoped.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2021