Amir Muqam is PML-N’s best bet

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s pick, Eng Amir Muqam, as the president of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chapter of his party is aimed at drastically improving on its position in the 2018 general elections over its poor performance in 2013 parliamentary polls in this province.

Amir Muqam was considered the best bet in the available senior lot of the PML-N’s KP branch. Other top provincial leaders have their own disqualifications and handicaps to be suitable for this berth.

Former KP Governor Mehtab Abbasi has still one year to go to get rid of the two-year mandatory ban on active participation in political activities for having held the gubernatorial post. Another senior PML-N leader from KP Zafar Iqbal Jhagra is the current provincial governor. Pir Sabir Shah, who did not face any such ineligibility, was available but wasn’t preferred. He is a decent, noble man, but can’t carry the heavy weight of this key post that he once held.

Another option was Capt (retd) Safdar, spouse of Maryam Nawaz, who originally hails from Mansehra and has always been elected to the National Assembly from here. But for obvious reasons the main being his relationship with the prime minister, he was not chosen as the KP president.

At one point, he had severely criticized the KP leaders of his party that had exasperated them much. This led to the suspension of his party membership by the PML-N president, Nawaz Sharif, which, however, was restored later. After that, Safdar had not spoken against old Leaguers from the KP.

All these prominent leaders and other noted stalwarts from KP were in the field, working actively, in the 2013 general elections, but had failed to fare well, causing immense embarrassment to their party. The PML-N had hardly faced such a comprehensive beating in any parliamentary polls. Even most of these top leaders had lost.

Amir Muqam no doubt is an aggressive, daring political figure, and is master of political maneuverings. If given full mandate by his leadership, he has the capability to wean away some influential electables from other parties. Only a few politicians from KP match his shrewdness. He had survived seven terrorist strikes on his life including three suicide attacks, in which he had lost some of his close relatives.

Since joining the PML-N, he has always been on the move in KP and has been working hard over the past four years to secure PML-N’s lost space there. It is expected that with his being in the driving seat in the 2018 elections in the KP, he may show better results compared to 2013. The next important step would be the distribution of tickets for the national and KP assemblies in which he would have a significant role so that he steers his party out of the poor state.

A major patch on Amir Muqam’s political career, if it can be called a blemish, is that he was once a loyalist of Pervez Musharraf during the latter’s regime. The dictator had once publicly gifted him his personal pistol to protect himself from terrorists. A number of
politicians, who had closely worked with Musharraf, joined different major political parties after his exit from power.

In 2001, Amir Muqam was elected unopposed as Nazim of Bengali Chagum Union Council after participating in local polls. He had taken part in the 2002 general elections on the Jamaat-e-Islami ticket for NA-31 Shangla. He later changed his mind and defected to PML-Q to support Musharraf. He was then made Minister of State for Water and Power and Political Affairs.

In 2008, Amir Muqam retained his seat on the PML-Q ticket. But his relations grew bitter with PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain because of his alliance with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). He then resigned as Federal Minister for Industry and Production. The Chaudhrys tried but failed to persuade him to change his mind.

A few days later, Amir Muqam announced to join the PML-N after holding a meeting with Nawaz Sharif. He was appointed its senior vice president. In 2013, Amir Muqam decided not to contest from NA-31 from where he had been elected twice in the past and tried his luck from Swat. He was routed in both the national and provincial constituencies that he contested. In PK-80 Swat, he could manage only 7,044 votes compared to 18,080 ballots of the winner, Fazal Hakim, belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). In NA-30 Swat, he had secured 33,027 votes as against 49,976 ballots of Salim Rehman of the PTI.

However, his brother Dr Ibadullah, who had been the district Nazim of Shangla, was elected to the National Assembly from Shangla in 2013. Amir Muqam’s son Niaz Ahmad is the current district Nazim of Shangla. On 29 October 2013, Amir Muqam was appointed as Adviser to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, an office he continues to hold.