ISLAMABAD - Though ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) has smooth sailing in the first phase of Local Bodies elections in Punjab, at the same time the victory of a large number of independents also belonging to ruling party against their fellow party men has exposed the internal rifts and lack of discipline in the party’s rank and file.
Background interviews and interaction with some senior party leaders revealed that top party leaders were very much concerned rather annoyed over this state of affairs in the party where the diehard workers of the party not only jumped into the elections arena in complete defiance of the party decision but also managed to defeat the party ticketholders in the elections as well.
This defiance was not confined to the workers’ level or those contesting elections at union council level but the senior and prominent party leaders were also seen involved in such tussles and on many places the sitting MNA or MPA of the PML-N was seen supporting the candidates not awarded with party tickets, a senior party leader from central Punjab said.
Referring to the tussle between former MNA and father of sitting State Minister for Water and Power Ch. Sher Ali with incumbent Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah in Faisalabad, a central party leader said that despite efforts at the level of Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif the row between the two could not be settled and compelled the party to left over couple of dozen union councils in Faisalabad open where the candidates of Ch. Sher Ali and Rana Sanaullah contested elections as independent candidates.
Taking notice of these serious discipline lapses in the party Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif has decided to evolve a mechanism of awarding party tickets to candidates in Local Bodies’ elections and discourage the practice of leaving some seats or district open.
Sources further said that a disciplinary committee would also be formed shortly to examine the breach of party discipline on part of the sitting parliamentarians of the party who had supported independent candidates, though belonging to PML-N but not awarded party tickets. Sources further informed The Nation that party leadership would mark all such MPs and would not consider them for the coveted slots like their induction in the Federal Cabinet or giving them some important assignments or positions in the party’s top hierarchy.
Sources in the party said that Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif also discussed the reorganisation of the party at grass-root level soon after the completion of the local bodies’ elections in Punjab and Sindh, so that such breaches of party discipline could not occur in future.
A party MNA commenting on the outcome of the first phase of Local Bodies’ elections said that out of over 1,000 independents declared winner majority are from ruling PML-N and had contested elections as independent candidate when the party leadership had denied them tickets.
He admitted that tickets were not purely awarded on merit, adding that had the tickets were given to the genuine candidates such a big number of independent would not have been succeeded to win, exposing the biasness of ticket awarding committees. He further said that due to this mass scale defiance and breach of party discipline in the Local Bodies elections ruling PML-N had suffered a dent of around 100 seats which could have been saved had the tickets were awarded aptly and on merit.
Sources in the party said that Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif has also sought report on all these matters from Hamza Shahbaz Sharif and other party’s stalwarts managing these elections, so that these mistakes should not be repeated in future and party could be spruced up in a disciplined and organised entity.