Maryam Nawaz Sharif returns on Jan 28 to spearhead Pakistan general elections campaign
Former PM Nawaz Sharif also plans to return ahead of provincial elections: Minister
Islamabad: Senior Vice-President of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Chief Organizer of the party Maryam Nawaz Sharif is all set to return to Pakistan on January 28 to lead the campaign for the party candidates in the upcoming general elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
A day earlier, former Prime Minister and the supreme leader of the PML-N, Nawaz Sharif chaired a party meeting in his London residence to deliberate on the emerging political situation in Punjab and KP after dissolution of assemblies by the PTI-led governments.
The meeting that was attended by the PML-N members including Maryam Nawaz, Federal Minister Javed Latif, Senator Afnanullah Khan and former senator Chaudhry Saud Majid discussed the party’s election strategy as well as the possible return of the former prime minister.
After the meeting, while talking to reporters, Rana Sanaullah Khan said Maryam Nawaz would reach Pakistan on January 28 to lead the party’s election campaign.
“She will leave London on January 27 and arrive in Lahore on Jan 28,” he said.
He said Nawaz Sharif was also planning to return to the country. However, the exact date of his return is yet to be decided.
The party workers have already started preparations for the general elections, said Sanaullah, adding there were clear instructions from Nawaz Sharif to “expose the former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party’s false narrative before the public.”
Elections in Punjab, KP due after dissolution of assemblies
In both the provinces — KP and Punjab — elections are due after the chief ministers there dissolved the provincial assemblies.
According to the constitution of Pakistan, elections are to be conducted within three months after the dissolution of assemblies, however, the final dates will be announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
In the KP, former bureaucrat Afzal Khan has already taken oath as Caretaker Chief Minister while the appointment of Punjab’s caretaker chief minister has been left to the discretion of the ECP after failure of the parliamentary committee over the names proposed by the outgoing Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and the Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly, Hamza Shehbaz Sharif.
The ECP will pick one person out of the four forwarded to head the interim Punjab government during the polls.
A meeting was called by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja Sunday evening to deliberate over the names. The names proposed by Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi are: Sardar Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera and Naveed Akram Cheema while the opposition leader Hamza Shehbaz had forwarded the names of Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi and Ahad Khan Cheema.