Shahid Khaqan to spearhead party

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is likely to supervise the party affairs in absence of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif who are both currently behind the bars as a result of the corruption cases against them, the reliable sources told The News here on Thursday.

However, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told this correspondent, “I am only a party worker but being one of the senior most party members, I am supposed to play my due role in absence of both Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif. But I must say that all members of the upcoming parliamentary advisory board would have equal say in the decision-making process.”

The sources said ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif had also personally posed confidence in loyalty and commitment of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and directed the party’s senior members during a meeting in Islamabad before his arrest to follow his advice in critical political matters.

“It was Shahid Khaqan Abbasi himself who was not interested in becoming head of the parliamentary advisory board because he was of the view that all the senior members should work jointly without getting any post in the interest of the party,” the sources said. The sources said Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is now being considered as ‘acting head’ of the party as he would lead the efforts to formulate roadmap for 6-month-long mass contact movement during which the parliamentary advisory board would focus mobilising the party workers at the grassroots level and strengthening the basic infrastructure of the party in all the federating units.

They said apart from Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the parliamentary advisory board is likely to comprise senior party members such as Raja Zafarul Haq, Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Ayaz Sadiq, Pervaiz Rashid, Mushahidullah Khan, Rana Sanaullah, Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Rana Tanvir Hussain, Tahira Aurangzeb and Sardar Yaqoob Khan Nasir.

The sources said Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has also stated time and again that his hands are clean and if anyone wants to inquire into his tenures as the minister as well as the prime minister he would face the challenge at any forum.

When contacted, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told The News, “No one would head the parliamentary advisory board as all its members would play their due role in strengthening the party all over the country.”

He said, “We don’t know whether the incumbent government will go for mid-term elections but we have decided to mobilise the party workers by organising rallies and public meetings in all major cities of the Punjab and other provinces of the country.” Replying to a question he said, “At the moment parliamentary advisory board of the party would focus on three objectives including stronger contacts with the party workers, identification of weaknesses in the party structure and strengthening of support base of the party during a mass contact movement that would start from December 30.”

“The parliamentary advisory board has a clear-cut plan to achieve its targets within six months because the upcoming mass contact movement will come to an end on June 30 next year. It will not be an election campaign but an effort to prepare the party workers for all types of political developments,” he said.