ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has hinted at not giving party ticket to former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan for the upcoming general elections after he openly went against the present PML-N narrative and leadership.

Mr Nisar’s recent statement against the party leadership and his stance against the party line on the Panama Paper case verdict against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and criticism against the judiciary indicate that he has already lost a ‘sacred’ place in the party.

Speaking to Dawn, Senator Pervaiz Rashid, a senior leader of the PML-N, said: “The PML-N will go to polls with its present narrative and Chaudhry Nisar, who is deadly against the party’s narrative, cannot contest the polls from the party platform.”

While hinting that Chaudhry Nisar might not get party ticket in the next general elections, the former information minister said Mr Nisar was acting against the present narrative of the ruling party. “His fate in the party will be decided by incumbent PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif,” he added.

He said that Mr Nisar would have to decide if he wanted to continue with the party or part ways.

Since the surfacing of Panama cases against the former prime minister and his family, Mr Nisar had been giving statements against the PML-N policies and narratives, which the party leadership believed were violation of party’s discipline.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2018