PESHAWAR: The lack of communication between the provincial and central leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is likely to cause difficulties for the party in winning seats during the local bodies’ elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to sources.

They said that gulf between provincial and central leaders of PML-N was widening fast. The office-bearers of PML-N in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were being ignored by the central leadership, they added.

Several senior office-bearers of the party in the province were not even invited to participate in the oath taking ceremony of President Mamnoon Hussain that showed indifferent attitude of the leadership towards the provincial leaders, insiders said.

They said that only Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan was invited to the ceremony while the rest of all office-bearers were ignored that caused serious unrest among them.

During a chat with this correspondent, some of the PML-N leaders recalled that they were also not invited to the oath taking ceremony of Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif. Only a few close friends of the central president had attended the ceremony in a personal capacity, they added.

“We were expecting that the party leadership would give us representation in the All-Party Conference as it was convened for devising a policy to overcome terrorism and the most affected province is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but we were not invited to the APC,” they said.

The party leadership, they said, had no interest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and it seemed as if the province was handed over to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf under a preplanned policy. The central president of the party even avoided addressing public meetings in the province during the last general elections, they said.

They said that PML-N got over 0.9 million votes in the general elections while PTI got over one million votes but despite that the central leadership was annoyed over the defeat of the party in the province.

The workers, they said, were also annoyed over the attitude of the federal ministers as they were not ready to meet PML-N activists belonging to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Sources said that the provincial government was about to announce local bodies’ elections but PML-N had made no preparations for the same as attitude of central leadership disappointed the workers.

“We will be unable to win the local government elections in the prevailing situation because people want us to resolve their problems through the central government which is impossible due to lack of communication,” the party leaders said.

Sources said several senior activists of PML-N in different parts of the province had developed contacts with leaders of rival parties. They were likely to part ways with PML-N if the uncertain situation prevailed for long, they added.

PML-N provincial president Pir Sabir Shah, when contacted, said that he couldn’t attend the oath taking ceremony of the president as he was not feeling well.

However, he was not sure whether he was not invited to the ceremony, saying he remained busy out of his residence. About other PML-N leaders from the province, he said that Iqbal Zafar Jhagra and Amir Muqam might have participated in the ceremony.

About preparations for the local bodies’ elections, he said that contesting holding local government polls on party basis meant to create difference among the workers as everyone wanted to get ticket and participate in the process at local level.

Arbab Khizar Hayat, another leader of PML-N, said that federal ministers were reluctant to give any attention to the workers and the attitude was causing unrest among them.

Defeat in general elections, he said, did not mean to ignore the committed people because local bodies’ elections were also expected in the near future. The party could face a serious setback in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa if the central leadership did not give it proper attention, he added.

“Party should appoint at least two advisers from the province in the federal government so that they can focus on the problems of the workers and strengthen the party or at least maintain its present position,” Mr Hayat said.

He said that he had sent a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to give them time so that a delegation from Peshawar could apprise him of the workers’ problems.