Shahid Khaqan leaving for US, won’t cast vote

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and estranged leader of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN), Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, boycotted the Monday’s public gathering of the party, addressed by Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Marriyyam Aurangzeb and others, in his native town and tourists resort Murree.

Sources close to him told The News on Monday that Shahid Khaqan, who was designated PM by Nawaz Sharif when the latter had to quit the office as a result of an apex court verdict, would not cast his vote in Thursday’s polls. He is leaving for the United States. He will have a stopover in the United Kingdom in his sojourn before reaching the US. The informal group of candidates contesting from Murree and adjacent constituencies are in wilderness about his leaving the country just before the election. He is quietly supporting the group. Sources said Shahid Khaqan, who was defeated in National Assembly elections of 2018, was got elected by Nawaz Sharif from a Lahore seat in a by-election. The seat was vacated by Hamza Shehbaz, who was elected to the Punjab Assembly, and opted to quit the National Assembly berth. First he resigned from the offices of the party and later he parted ways with the PMLN. Shahid claims to be friend of Nawaz Sharif for 35 years, but he has not met him or made him a phone call ever since the latter had returned from his four-year self-imposed exile in October last year. Shahid Khaqan confirmed to The News that he was leaving for the US and would return in the third week of the month. His younger sister lives in the US, who is unwell and he is going to inquire after her. He brushed aside possibility of his any political engagement or meeting during his stay abroad.