LAHORE: Ending his three-year-long political isolation, ‘disgruntled’ PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan will take the oath as Punjab Assembly member when the house will meet after a two-day break on Monday (today).

Confirming his decision to take the oath in a statement on Sunday, the politician from Chakri said he made the decision after talking to his constituents and mutual consultation. He made it clear that the taking of oath would not affect his stance or thinking (about rigging in the 2018 general election that led to his defeat in a National Assembly constituency).

The decision comes in the wake of reports that the federal government is set to promulgate an ordinance within days deseating those members of the elected houses who haven’t taken oath of their respective offices within a stipulated time.

Disgruntled PML-N leader was elected as an independent candidate in 2018 polls

The main target of the likely legal provision seems to be former finance minister Ishaq Dar and former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

Mr Dar, who had been re-elected as senator in the March 3, 2018 polls to the upper house, is living in self-exile in London even before the elections and has not returned home to take oath of his office.

Mr Khan is living in the country but he too has been averse to taking oath as Punjab Assembly member. He had rather gone into a sort of ‘isolation’, absenting himself from almost all political activities and rarely issuing any statement on any political development in the country.

He said in his statement that he won’t also accept any benefits as the assembly member that include salary, transport and daily allowances and other privileges as “the basic purpose of taking oath is to control political situation and factors in the constituency.”

He further explained that “it would be a strange logic to abandon the seat (by not taking oath) and then taking part in the ensuing by-polls for the constituency. [Whereas] boycotting the election and leaving the field open [to political rivals] will be even bigger political blunder, particularly at a time when the general elections are hardly two years away.”

He argued that saving the people [from going into by-polls] during the coronavirus pandemic was another factor behind his decision of taking the oath.

Sources say that Mr Khan’s son Taimur Ali has, against his earlier reluctance, agreed to become political heir of his father in the constituency and is being introduced to the political elders in the area. Till Taimur’s full mobilisation, Mr Khan wishes to retain the seat.

Mr Khan had been elected from the constituency PP-10 (Rawal­pindi-V) in the 2018 general election as an independent candidate with a margin of over 34,000 votes but had not yet taken oath of his office. He had lost in the National Assembly constituency NA-59 (Rawalpindi-3) as an independent aspirant. The former interior minister in the last Nawaz Sharif cabinet had declined to contest on the PML-N tickets after developing differences with the deposed prime minister.

The differences ranged from the kind of relations to be kept with the military establishment to hegemony of the House of Sharif within the PML-N as he had publicly stated against accepting Maryam Nawaz Sharif as the next party chief.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2021