HARIPUR: Though the political parties have yet to name candidates for the imminent general elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PML-N and PTI seem to be in a quandary over who to choose from more than two hopefuls in every Haripur district constituency.

The fresh delimitation by the Election Commission of Pakistan has reduced the number of the provincial assembly’s constituencies in the district from four to three.

However, Haripur with a population of over one million will continue to have one National Assembly seat, NA-17.

Many including electables eyeing ticket in every PA, NA constituency

With the election season almost set in, the scions of main political families, including Tareens, Rajgans of Khanpur, Awans of Sikandarpur, Sardars of Kotnajibullah, Utmanzais of Khalabat Township, Jahazonwala Group from Ghazi and Pirs of Sirikot, have geared up their election campaigns and are seen address public meetings to share their future development plans with voters.

However, the PML-N and PTI, both the mainstream political parties, fear fissures over the selection of candidates from among aspirants, including electables.

According to observers, the NA-17 Haripur will put the PTI leadership to a real test as it is desperate to win this seat back from the PML-N.

Currently, Babar Nawaz, scion of Utmanzais of Khalabat Township, is MNA from Haripur, who had defeated PTI’s Dr Raja Amir Zaman in the last elections.

The PTI factually won the seat during the 2013 elections but lost during by-elections held in 2015 when the then losing candidate, Omar Ayub Khan, the PML-N’s ticket holder, had engaged Dr Amir Zaman in the court.

The situation took new turn last month when Omar Ayub Khan, member of PM Shaukat Aziz cabinet, joined the PTI after quitting the PML-N.

Though the PTI has yet to choose between Omar Ayub and Dr Raja Amir, the former’s joining PTI and the influence that his cousin Akbar Ayub enjoys in the party clear signal of the ditching of Dr Raja Amir by the party though his family known as Rajgans of Khanpur still has a strong vote bank in Haripur.

Some senior party leaders have offered Dr Amir different political benefits of clearing the way for Omar Ayub but he publicly announced that he would contest elections from NA-17 as independent candidate if the party doesn’t give him ticket.

The announcement has exposed the PTI leadership to a difficult situation as it could divide the party’s vote bank in the constituency.

On the other hand, the PML-N is also facing a similar situation as its MNA, Babar Nawaz, who had won by the last elections securing a majority of votes, is also confident of securing the ticket, while Sardar Mushtaq Khan, who had won the same seat with the highest number of votes in 2008, is also busy lobbying for both NA and PA seats. Sardar Mushtaq, who enjoys good rapport with Sharifs, said he would be the ticket holder of PML-N both for NA-17 and PK-41.

If the PML-N goes for Sardar Mushtaq, this will cause rift in party.

As a strong group of sitting MPA Raja Faisal Zaman opts for contesting elections as independent, the vote bank of the candidate for NA seat will be affected if the party throws weight behind Babar Nawaz.

The constituency of PK-42 after new delimitation of some urban union councils annexed with Ghazi tehsil poses similar threats of differences for both PML-N and PTI.

Former minister Qazi Mohammad Asad is the candidate of PML-N but newly-elected Senator Pir Sabir Shah’s nephew and district president of the party Sahibzada Hamid Shah has also announced his candidature from the constituency.

Nasir Kiyani, a PTI’s member of district council and close aide of CM’s adviser for C&W Akbar Ayub, has also started flexing muscles against his own party’s sitting MPA Faisal Zaman Jahazonwala, from the same constituency.

In PK-40, PTI’s Akbar Ayub will be facing PMLN’s expected nominee Gohar Nawaz Khan, the sitting MPA who had won elections on the ticket of QWP. He had announced joining of the PML-N few weeks ahead of the Senate elections after his sister, Raeesa Daud, was given the PML-N’s ticket but her candidature was withdrawn by party at the eleventh hour for unidentified reasons.

Although annoyed with PMLN’s leadership, Gohar Nawaz is the only best option left with the PML-N if the provincial leadership agrees as it has some reservations about him due to his recent fight with Pir Sabir Shah and Amir Muqam over the nomination of his sister.

The observers say if Gohar Nawaz prefers contesting elections as an independent candidate, he is still formidable against PTI’s Akbar Ayub.

They however say it is not clear if MNA Babar Nawaz will be able to get the party’s tickets for himself and his uncle, Gohar Nawaz, or both will contest elections as independents.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2018