ISLAMABAD, Feb 22: Follow-ing the withdrawal of police contingents from the PML-Q secretariat (PML House) after the Feb 18 polls, the party leadership is reported to have decided to employ security by a 200-strong private security force, called the Wajahat Force.

The Wajahat Force is maintained by Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain, MNA-elect and younger brother of PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.

The sprawling PML House gives a deserted look these days with no party official turning up following the party’s defeat in polls. A senior PML-N leader and a former secretary general of the party, who had signed the purchase deed of the PML House, told Dawn that the issue of regaining control of the place had not come up for discussion and it might be raised after the new government takes over.

PML-N secretary information and MNA-elect Ahsan Iqbal said: “No measure can stop the rightful owner from regaining control of the PML House.”

When asked when would that happen, he said: “When the judiciary will become independent. They (the PML-Q) will themselves hand it over to the legal owners.”

The building had been purchased by former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif and it was registered in the name of Sartaj Aziz, then secretary general of the party.

Mr Iqbal said the control of the PML House was taken over by the pro-Musharraf League in 2000 by using administrative force as well as intelligence agencies.

Opinion

Editorial

The heat ahead
Updated 31 May, 2026

The heat ahead

Planning for hotter conditions is increasingly becoming a question of public health, economic resilience and public safety.
Dimming hopes
31 May, 2026

Dimming hopes

THE National Assembly opposition leader’s recent warning should give the ruling parties some pause. Once again, ...
No Tobacco Day
31 May, 2026

No Tobacco Day

THIS year’s World No Tobacco Day theme, announced by the WHO last October, is ‘Unmasking the appeal —...
Diplomatic resolve
Updated 30 May, 2026

Diplomatic resolve

Iran, too, must engage seriously and provide credible assurances about its nuclear programme if it wants sanctions relief and a more stable relationship with the outside world.
Weaponising water
30 May, 2026

Weaponising water

CLIMATE Minister Musadik Malik’s warning against what he described as “water aggression” indicates ...
Rabies toll
30 May, 2026

Rabies toll

EVERY year, rabies, the deadliest zoonotic disease, kills more than 59,000 people worldwide. In Pakistan, it is one...