{"id":45987,"date":"2024-01-10T02:34:04","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T02:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/campaigning-on-hold-as-pml-n-sorts-out-ticket-dilemma\/"},"modified":"2024-01-10T02:34:04","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T02:34:04","slug":"campaigning-on-hold-as-pml-n-sorts-out-ticket-dilemma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/campaigning-on-hold-as-pml-n-sorts-out-ticket-dilemma\/","title":{"rendered":"Campaigning on hold as PML-N sorts out ticket dilemma"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>\u2022 Despite Nawaz\u2019s clearance from all cases, party yet to embark on campaign trail<br \/>\u2022 Leaders \u2018more concerned\u2019 with securing tickets; move to accommodate IPP leaders \u2018divides\u2019 Sharif camp<\/p>\n<p>LAHORE: With less than a month to go for the general election, PML-N is yet to kick-start its campaign as it is still sorting out ticket distribution and seat adjustment with the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) and PML-Q.<\/p>\n<p>The party appears to be in no rush regarding the launch of its election campaign, and the confidence is apparently due to their \u201cgood equation\u201d with the powers that be.<\/p>\n<p>For now, the party\u2019s only concern appears to be getting its candidates right for the national and provincial assemblies\u2019 seats, especially in Punjab.<\/p>\n<p>This is in stark contrast with the charged campaign by the PML-N\u2019s erstwhile ally, the PPP, whose Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari remained in Lahore last week, openly campaigning in the city\u2019s NA-127 constituency and calling out the Sharifs almost daily.<\/p>\n<p>Unperturbed by this, the PML-N leadership, for now, is apparently co\u00adn\u00adtent with \u2018public addresses\u2019 in indoor party meetings and media statements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEither the leadership knows that the polls are not taking place on Feb 8, or it is confident that only a couple of weeks will be enough for canvassing to emerge as the majority party,\u201d a PML-N leader from Punjab told <em>Dawn<\/em> on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>He also said that party leaders were less concerned about the election campaign and more preoccupied with securing their tickets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe party is likely to announce tickets for the National and Punjab ass\u00ade\u00admblies in a couple of days. Perhaps after that, it may think about kicking off the election campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1803838\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The leader expressed hope that the party will enter the campaign mode with the launch of its manifesto on Jan 15 or 16.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, PML-N secretary general Ahsan Iqbal had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1791695\">told<\/a> <em>Dawn<\/em> the party would kick-start its campaign once the appeals of former premier Nawaz Sharif were decided.<\/p>\n<p>However, it has been over a month since Mr Sharif\u2019s acquittal in Avenfield and Al-Azizia cases, but the party has yet to launch a concerted push towards electioneering.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court\u2019s verdict of Monday, thro\u00adw\u00ading out lifetime disqualification for lawma\u00adkers under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution, has also effectively rendered the PML-N supremo free to contest the elections.<\/p>\n<p>When contacted on Monday, Mr Iqbal did not comment on the delay in his party\u2019s election campaign.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ticket dilemma<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The party\u2019s seat adjustment with the IPP, in particular, has exacerbated its predicament regarding the distribution of tickets.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1803731\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The party is \u201ccompelled\u201d to accommodate key candidates of IPP, and ticket distribution in this way is likely to create resentment among PML-N loyalists, as well as IPP ranks, especially in Punjab.<\/p>\n<p>A source in the IPP said that the party\u2019s president, Aleem Khan, had requested the Sharifs to ask Maryam Nawaz Sharif to vacate the NA-119 seat in Lahore for him as he had already launched his campaign from there. \u201cHowever, Ms Sharif told the leadership to adjust the IPP leader in NA-117, as even this would be a favour to him,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, IPP patron-in-chief and sugar baron Jahangir Khan Tareen is keen to contest the National Assembly election from Lodhran, but the Sharifs want him to contest from Multan. Once of the reasons is that they don\u2019t want to provoke the ire of Sadique Baloch, a strong candidate, who has threatened to contest independently if he is not awarded a ticket from Lodhran.<\/p>\n<p>Separately, Awn Chaudhry, once a close confidant of PTI leader Imran Khan and now a central IPP leader, is vying for a National Assembly seat from Lahore. \u201cHe may be considered for NA-124 as he is close to Shehbaz Sharif,\u201d sources said.<\/p>\n<p>The PML-N has reportedly told the IPP that it would not accommodate PTI members who joined the party after the May 9 attacks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn such a scenario, IPP will get a very limited number of national and Punjab assembly seats,\u201d said the IPP source, adding that the party had earlier sought over 100 seats from PML-N, which in turn had termed it a \u201cnon-serious demand\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>On the PML-N\u2019s side, the powerful Khokhar group of Lahore has reportedly managed to secure at least two national and one Punjab assembly seats.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1804553\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>A big financier of the party, Saiful Malook Khokhar, is also a blue-eyed leader of the party\u2019s chief organiser, Ms Sharif.<\/p>\n<p>The president of PML-N\u2019s Lahore chapter Mr Khokhar has secured National Assembly seats for himself and his brother, Afzal Khokhar.<\/p>\n<p>With a Punjab Assembly seat also secured for his relative Imran Shafi Khokhar, Mr Khokhar is said to be lobbying for the accommodation of his cousin Faisal Khokhar in the PP-168 constituency.<\/p>\n<p>This has resulted in disagreements among the Sharif family, with Ms Nawaz supporting Mr Faisal and her cousin, Hamza Shahbaz, putting his weight behind a party worker, Shabbir Khokhar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven in a parliamentary board meeting, a question was raised whether the leadership is surrendering to the will of the wealthy Khokhars,\u201d a party insider said.<\/p>\n<p>To placate the malcontents, the party has promised candidates who might miss out on tickets that they would be accommodated in the Senate or given tickets for by-polls, the PML-N insider told <em>Dawn<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2022 Despite Nawaz\u2019s clearance from all cases, party yet to embark on campaign trail\u2022 Leaders \u2018more concerned\u2019 with securing tickets; move to accommodate IPP leaders \u2018divides\u2019 Sharif camp LAHORE: With less than a month to go for the general election, PML-N is yet to kick-start its campaign as it is still sorting out ticket distribution [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2024\/01\/659dc01e3a739.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}