MUZAFFARABAD: Unlike other parties, including the ruling PML-N, the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has decided to contest the upcoming by-election in Poonch on Dec 30.

The decision was taken by the PPP on Wednesday at a meeting in Islamabad which was presided over by party’s regional president Chaudhry Latif Akbar.

A participant told Dawn that Sardar Yaqoob Khan, a former AJK president and prime minister, would be their candidate from LA-19, Poonch-III - a seat that fell vacant on Nov 4 due to the death of Jammu Kashmir People’s Party (JKPP) chief Sardar Khalid Ibrahim.

Mr Ibrahim had lost the June 2011 election to Mr Khan of the PPP from this constituency by around 10,000 votes.

After Mr Khan’s elevation as AJK president in Aug 2011, Mr Ibrahim did not contest by-election which saw Farzana Yaqoob replacing her father in the assembly.

In the July 2016 general elections, Mr Ibrahim defeated Ms Yaqoob of the PPP by around 10,000 votes as an ally of the PML-N.

However, within two weeks of the elections, Mr Ibrahim switched over to opposition benches after developing differences with the PML-N over the latter’s support to PPP in elections against one of the five reserved seats for women and nomination of an “apolitical person” (Sardar Masood Khan) for the president’s office.

After the sudden death of Mr Ibrahim due to brain haemorrhage, there were calls from different quarters that any of his family members should be elected unopposed.

Though the JKPP was yet to announce its candidate for the by-election, it was believed that the late leader’s elder son Asad Ibrahim might be picked to grab sympathy vote in the area.

The PML-N, which has recently retained its seat in a by-election in Poonch, has reportedly decided not to contest the Rawalakot by-election but a formal announcement to this effect has not been made by it so far.

“There is consensus in our party to support the JKPP candidate whoever he may be,” confirmed PML-N senior vice president and AJK’s senior minister Chaudhry Tariq Farooq.

A source in the PPP said most leaders in his party also wanted to support the JKPP nominee as a mark of respect for the late leader, “but had to give in to the former president in the wake of his assertion to contest the by-election.”

“We had even sought the approval of our central leadership to stay away from the by-election but Sardar sahib is unwilling to give a walkover to the JKPP due to the local political situation,” the source said.

“Since Mr Khan is a big figure in the party and has held the office of president and prime minister, stopping him from contesting the by-polls might create fissures within the party,” the source added.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2018