Sardar Mahtab keen on rejoining parliamentary politics

PESHAWAR: As names for the new Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor are being discussed, the resignation of the outgoing Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan has paved the way for his rejoining parliamentary politics.

Sardar Mahtab stuck to his decision to step down despite his party leadership’s insistence to continue his job as the seasoned politician from Abbottabad appears keen to contest the Senate elections to be held in March 2018 for which he had to quit before February 15 to fulfill the constitutional requirement of two years after retirement from government service.

According to sources, Sardar Mahtab had decided in December last to quit as governor and had started consultations with his close friends.

In January 2016, he conveyed his desire to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and inform him about the decision. However, the premier instead asked his younger brother and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to convince Sardar Mahtab to continue performing his responsibilities as governor.

Sources told this scribe that a meeting between Shahbaz Sharif and Sardar Mahtab was held in Lahore on January 30 and it lasted for three and a half hours though the scheduled time was an hour. However, Sardar Mahtab did not change his stance.

Subsequently, a consultative meeting chaired by the prime minister and attended by Shahbaz Sharif, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Sardar Mahtab and other leaders of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) was held on February 4 where the governor again requested that he should be allowed to resign.  The prime minster, however, rejected the plea and asked him to continue as governor. Sardar Mahtab, on the other hand, was adamant to step down as governor before February 15. Finally, he prime minister agreed to his request on February 8.

According to sources, Sardar Mahtab has fixed his eyes on the March 2018 Senate polls. Keeping in view his party’s strength in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, he could win a seat in the Senate.

Sardar Mahtab during his long political career remained member of the provincial assembly, National Assembly and Senate and also enjoyed the coveted posts of chief minister and governor. He also served as provincial and federal minister and remained the opposition leader in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

He is among the top leaders of PML-N and represented his party as member of the parliamentary committee drafting the 18thconstitutional amendment.

During his 22 months stay at the Governor’s House, he showed his mettle by introducing administrative and financial reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), especially handling the issue of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) that was the reason PML-N leadership was reluctant to accept his resignation considering the fact that finding a person to take forward the federal government agenda of reforms and eradicating militancy would be a great challenge.

Sardar Mahtab knows that PML-N will emerge the majority party in the Upper House after the Senate elections in 2018 and would be in a position to bring its own leader as chairman. According to his close circles, Sardar Mahtab’s next destination could be the Upper House and possibly its chairman. He can play a vital role in the Senate on behalf of the PML-N.

When his comments were sought, Sardar Mahtab told The News that he had accepted governorship on the directives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and discharged his responsibilities to the best of his abilities.

He said he tried to implement the prime minister’s agenda of reforms in Fata and achieved many successes, including restoration of peace, honourable return of IDPs to their homes, and launching mega development projects in the tribal areas. He said he now wanted somebody else to take forward the reforms agenda.