he Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the largest faction of the mainstream Muslim League,having a long history of electoral success, is apparently facing serious fragmentation.

It appears that the differences within the party are escalating.The recentanointment of Maryam Nawaz - widely regarded as the political successor to Nawaz Sharif –as chief organiser and senior vice president has been followed by visible discomfort and restlessness in a cohort of the elder Sharif’s contemporaries.

Maryam has been a vocal supporter of her father’stake on national politics for several years. She was an active party worker during his tenure after the general elections in 2013. During the latter part of the Imran Khan administration, she was appointed one of the vice presidents of the PML-N.

The PML-N has been in power, on its own or as a part of various coalitions, for over three and a half decades. Some senior leaders of the party, who have stood by Nawaz Sharif in the past, are reportedly uncomfortable with the recent nomination. It has been suggested that she is seen by many as arrogant, assertive and autocratic.

Upon her return from London in early January this year, she was named a senior vice president of the party and designated its chief organiser. The latter role gives her authority to reorganise the party at all levels. This has been interpreted by senior party leaders as a clear indication that Maryam will lead the party in the future. They are concerned that they were not consulted in this regard, particularly since some of them have been raising their reservations for some time now.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, formerlya senior leader of the party and a close confidant of Nawaz Sharif, was one of the first PML-N leaders to publicly raise this issue. Khan, no longer affiliated with the party, had announced several years ago that he saw Maryam as a ‘child’ and could not accept her as a leader.

More recently, Miftah Ismail, the formerfinance minister, has claimed that he was removed through a conspiracy to be replaced by Ishaq Dar, a close relative ofNawaz Sharif. Maryam, who had publicly expressed dissatisfaction with Ismail’s policies and actions as finance minister, has been supporting Dar.

There is speculation that Maryam’s approach towards senior party leaders will determine the future direction of the party.

ShahidKhaqanAbbasi, who succeeded Nawaz Sharif as prime minister after the latter was removed from office by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case, too, has indicated that he would not accept Maryam in the leadership role. He has also resigned as senior vice president of the party, stating that he wants Maryam to have a free hand.

SardarMehtabAbbasi, a former governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and anothe close confidant of the elder Sharif, has also resigned from his position as a senior vice president. These leaders had voiced concerns regarding the government’s victimisation of political opponents instead of focusing on governance and establishing the rule of law. “The status quo will never provide a solution to the issues the country faces,” Abbasi recently commented.

Some senior leaders of the PML-N have also expressed concerns about the performance of Ahsan Iqbal,the party’s secretary general. Some of them have been asking that he be replaced.

These setbacks apart, the real test for Maryamwill be squaring up against Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the party president, who is considered closer to the military establishment than his brother.

The Muslim Leaguehas a history of factionalism, particularly around general elections. This has sometimes been explained in terms of political engineering and blamed on other occasions on personal ambition and internal differences.

As chief organiser, Maryam Nawaz is expected to appoint a large number of office bearers over the coming weeks. This could strengthen her hold on the party and further marginalise the party workers and leaders who do not see eye to eye with her.

The writer is a member of TNS staff.He can be reached at vaqargillani@gmail.com and @waqargillani