Fursan
Minister (2k+ posts)
A senior PML-N leader said that the party had decided to send Hamza Shahbaz to lead the rallies and workers’ conventions in the city. - Photo by National Assembly
RAWALPINDI: The local leaders of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) seem divided over the launch of a campaign in support of the federal government and against the sit-ins in Islamabad.
The PML-N has asked its city chapter to warm up the workers for launching the campaign, but the local leaders refused to work under former MNA Hanif Abbasi.
They suggested that the campaign should be launched under the party’s city president, Sardar Naseem.
A senior PML-N leader told Dawn that the party had decided to send Hamza Shahbaz to lead the rallies and workers’ conventions in the city.
He said the party would soon launch the campaign despite the fact that the PML-N government and the parties staging the sit-ins outside the Parliament House had started negotiations to end the impasse.
He said there was some resentment over the arrival of Hamza Shahbaz in the city for attending the workers’ convention as most of the local leaders had no direct contact with him and they belonged to Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar’s camp.
“The local leaders were ignored when Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited the garrison city.”
He said the chief minister visited the Ramazan Bazaar in Satellite Town last month where only Hanif Abbasi accompanied him as even the PML-N’s only MNA Malik Abrar was not invited.
When contacted, former MNA Malik Shakil Awan admitted that the party had decided to hold workers’ conventions and rallies in favour of the federal government. He said basically it was a step to contact the workers.
In the workers’ convention, the party workers would also present their problems so that the government would resolve them on a priority basis.
“Some individuals in the party did not accept the directions of the city president and a number of workers with over 30 years long affiliation with the party refused to participate in the rallies and workers’ conventions held by them,” he said.
PML-N City president Sardar Naseem told Dawn that the party did not want to destabilise talks between the government and the PTI and PAT by launching protest rallies.
However, he added, the workers’ conventions would be held to brief the party workers about the achievements of the government during the last one year.
He said the resolution of the issues being faced by the party workers was the priority of the PML-N government and these conventions would be a step to achieve the goal.
He said there was some resentment over the issue of who would lead the rallies and the conventions but it was a part of politics.
Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2014
http://www.dawn.com/news/1127382/pml-n-leaders-divided-over-launching-of-rallies-against-sit-ins
