Shehbaz, Maryam to attend PDM meeting

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif, who has tested positive for Covid-19 and is currently in isolation, will attend the meeting of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), scheduled to be held on January 25, sources told The News here on Sunday.

“Both, the PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif and vice president Maryam Nawaz, along with other senior party members, will attend the PDM meeting that will be held in Islamabad. Shehbaz Sharif is in isolation, so he is likely to attend this meeting through video link," sources said.

Sources said that the party supremo Nawaz Sharif and senior party member Ishaq Dar would also attend the PDM meeting through video link, adding, "Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal, former provincial minister Rana Sanaullah, PMLN secretary information Marrium Aurangzeb and other party members would also attend the meeting."

They claimed that the PMLN and other opposition parties were yet to develop a consensus over the name of the next prime minister and duration of the interim set-up that would be put in place if they succeeded to bring about an in-house change in the parliament.

"A new name from the Sindh province has been presented to Nawaz Sharif for the next prime minister but he has so far not given his consent in this respect. He still holds his viewpoint that the interim set-up should be installed only for a month or so after which fresh general elections should be announced," sources said.

They pointed out that a consensus on the name of next premier is likely to be developed but the issue of duration of interim set-up is a hard nut to crack because Nawaz Sharif holds a very rigid stance in this respect.

Sources also said the PML-N leadership has decided in principle that it could not give an assurance to all disgruntled members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) about the party tickets in the next general elections.

"The PML-N is of the view how it can ignore those party members who not only contested the elections on party tickets in the last elections in the face of extreme pressure from various quarters but also remained loyal for the last many years. So the PML-N leadership has so far sent positive vibes to only 10 to 12 disgruntled PTI members," the sources said.

The sources in the PML-N confided to this correspondent that "If Nawaz Sharif approves the proposals being presented to him, then in-house change will be a matter of few weeks. Otherwise, the present government will continue amid political and economic turmoil."

A senior PML-N leader currently living in London stated that various diplomats and envoys of foreign countries would meet Nawaz Sharif in the coming weeks to discuss important issues in the context of Pakistan and geopolitical situation.

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told this correspondent that PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif and vice president Maryam Nawaz would attend the PDM meeting along with other party members. "Hopefully, we will decide on Monday (today) that Shehbaz Sharif should attend the meeting through a video link because he is in isolation due to Covid-19," he said.