Nawaz Sharif asks PMLN to start campaign for elections

LAHORE: Former Prime Minister and PMLN Quaid Nawaz Sharif has directed his party to start a mass mobilisation campaign for upcoming general elections.

Party sources said Nawaz Sharif had issued important instructions to the political team of his party in Lahore and asked them to start preparation for general elections, confront the PTI and its allies in the in the public.

Sources said the former Prime Minister held a series of online meetings with his party stalwarts and directed them to speed up their political activities before the vote of confidence in Punjab.

It was decided that the Governor’s House and State Guest House will be used to hold public meetings and federal ministers would also hold open courts “khuli kacheris” to hear public problems and on-the spot orders to solve them. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was also asked to engage with his allies to find a solution to stop the PTI from dissolving the Punjab Assembly. In this regard, the Prime Minister had recently contacted former President Asif Ali Zardari and discussed the political situation with him.

Meanwhile, the date of the Punjab Assembly’s session has been changed and it will be held on January 9, instead of January 11. The assembly secretariat has also issued a gazette notification. Sources said the upcoming session was extremely important for both PMLN and its allies and the PTI and its allies. They said it was most likely that the Punjab Chief Minister might take a vote of confidence and in case the opposition alliance fails to complete the number of 186, then Imran Khan’s announcement of the dissolution of the assemblies would be implemented.

Both PMLN and PTI are claiming to have the required number to deal with the motion. Presently, the PMLN has 167 members, the PPP 7, Rah-e-Haq Party 1, while five independent members are with the opposition and one has not joined any party, while the PTI has 180 members and the PMLQ 10.