ISLAMABAD, July 18 (ABC): Senior leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) went into a huddle on Monday to ponder over the reasons for the party’s dismal performance in the by-elections held on 20 Punjab Assembly (PA) seats Sunday.
Sources said that senior leaders of the party, including Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb and Federal Minister for Law, Justice Azam Nazir Tarar, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz and Punjab Home Minister Ataullah Tarar, were in attendance while the PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif attended the meeting from London via a video link.
Rana Sana, on the occasion, read out a report which listed the reasons for the ruling party’s defeat in the most crucial elections in the country’s recent history. Giving constituency-wise analysis, the report said that the PML-N workers and supporters were not comfortable at all with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) ‘deserters’ contesting the by-elections on their party tickets.
It was further disclosed that the PML-N’s office-bearers, former ticket holders and former local bodies’ representatives did not do their best to ensure the party candidates’ success. Furthermore, sources explained, the report also identified hike in petroleum products’ (POL) prices and electricity tariff as one of the major reasons which contributed to the ruling party’s poor show in the by-polls.
“Rising inflation added fuel to the fire and played a major role in the PML-N’s disappointing performance in the by-elections. So much so that cut in the POL prices announced by the government just two days before the elections did nothing to cool down the people’s ire over the price hike,” sources quoted Rana Sana as saying. It also learnt that later in the day the report was presented to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who would now discuss it threadbare with his ministers at the cabinet meeting.