HARIPUR, Sept 7: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), is likely to withdraw its candidate in favour of PML (N)’s Pir Sabir Shah, who is contesting for Haripur’s NA-19 seat against Gohar Ayub’s son, Omar Ayub Khan, Dawn learnt from sources here on Saturday.

The sources said the adjustment, which would soon be endorsed by the higher echelons of the MMA, a conglomerate of six religo-political parties, had been made entirely at the local level owing to strong position of Pir Sabir Shah, who was, for the first time, contesting for an NA seat on the instructions of his exiled party chief, Mian Nawaz Sharif.

However, according to party sources, a formal announcement in this regard would be made public within a week. Ghulam Nabi Khan advocate, elder brother of the Haripur tehsil’s Naib Nazim, Amin Khan Badhora advocate, a JI member in origin, is also in the run for the lone National Assembly seat of the district with nine other candidates.

He was awarded a ticket by the MMA. But the sources, privy to the decision of retiring Ghulam Nabi in favour of Pir Sabir Shah, told Dawn that since the JI’s local ranks had the same objective of defeating Omar Ayub, as they had done in the last year’s local bodies polls for the district Nazim, they had agreed on withdrawing Nabi in favour of Pir of Sirikot, who, they claimed, was a comparatively strong candidate with brighter chances of success.