he Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has met the legal obligation of holding intra-party elections. The results, however, have gone to only reinforce the impression that almost all major parties in Pakistan wish to establish and continue family dynasties.

In January 2023, the Election Commission of Pakistan had set the PML-N a March 14 deadline to hold intra-party elections. On June 16, Federal Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announced that the party had convened its general council meeting to hold intra-party elections at the PML-N Islamabad Secretariat.

Party supremo Nawaz Sharif chaired the meeting through video link. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif co-chaired the meeting in person. The council elected Shahbaz as president and his niece Maryam Nawaz as senior vice president and chief organiser. Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal was elected as secretary general. Adviser to PM Attaullah Tarar was elected as his deputy. Federal Information Marriyum Aurangzeb was given the slot of information secretary. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the father-in-law of Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Asma, was elected president of PML-N Overseas and International Affairs.

Following his election, Shahbaz Sharif announced that his brother Nawaz Sharif will soon return to the country and be elected prime minister for a fourth time. The announcement was met by loud cheers from the participants. Shahbaz and Maryam Nawaz also sought to dispel the impression that there was a rift between them.

However, the process and the outcomes caused considerable muted resentment in the party ranks and open criticism by several independent analysts.

Requesting anonymity, some party insiders said that the takeaway from the council meeting and the election was that party policy revolved around Maryam Nawaz. “Whoever is not in her good books is not important in the party. Previously, there appeared to be two camps in the party: pro-Nawaz and pro-Shahbaz. Now, there are two camps: one comprises those in Maryam’s good books and the other, the rest. For example, former prime minister and senior vice president Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who had resigned the party office after Maryam was appointed as the chief organiser, has earned her ire, the sources say.

Support for the PML-N is likely to grow if the leadership welcomes dissenting voices and allows grassroots workers a say in party policies. Regard for form – things like a reasonable schedule - could have made the intraparty election more credible. Multiple candidates for every position would have been nice.

It is rather obvious that members of the Sharif family get priority over others in the party. This time, they have three major party portfolios. When Nawaz Sharif was the prime minister, his daughter Maryam Nawaz was appointed chairperson of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme; younger brother Shahbaz Sharif ran the Punjab as chief minister; Ishaq Dar was the finance minister; and nephew Abid Sher Ali was the state minister for water and power. During those days, Nawaz Sharif was also the party’s president and Shahbaz president of the party’s Punjab chapter.

Last year, when the PDM toppled Imran Khan’s government, Shahbaz Sharif became the prime minister. His son Hamza Shahbaz was then nominated to be the Punjab chief minister. He was duly elected, but the election was later declared void.

The ground reality is that most voters in Pakistan blindly follow certain people and families. The PML-N voters have great respect for Nawaz Sharif and want to see him become the PM. Nawaz alone might be enough for running the party as well. He has shown the ability to control the party remotely like he did from 2000 to 2007. Shaheed Benazir Bhutto had similarly run her party through trusted leaders from 1998 to 2007, when Asif Zardari was in jail and Bilawal was too young.

In off-the-record chats, some PML-N leaders said that dissenting voices were not being entertained in the party by the senior leaders. “Whoever dares to raise a voice against the party’s policy is snubbed or expelled. In the past, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, Tehmina Daultana and several others have faced similar consequences after voicing disagreement with the Sharifs. More recent examples include former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former chief minister Sardar Mehtab Abbasi. This has led to a culture of flattery taking hold in the party. Unabashed flatterers are given priority even over loyal veterans, a disgruntled leader told TNS.

The prevailing culture in the political parties does nothing good for the political system, the parties themselves or democracy in Pakistan. If relatives of the top leaders or some resourceful people continue to occupy all important positions in their parties, there will eventually be a leadership crisis. The PML-N has not produced new leaders over recent decades. It is depending on experienced people like Ahsan Iqbal, Khawaja Asif, Rana Sanaullah, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Khawaja Saad Rafiq. The only new leaders are Maryam Nawaz and Hamza Shahbaz. Marriyum Aurangzeb and Attaullah Tarar, while serving the party diligently, are not public leaders. They have nothing to contribute
to the constituency politics.

Support for the PML-N is likely to grow if it welcomes dissenting voices and allows grassroots workers a say in policy making. Even some regard for form – things like a reasonable schedule - could have made the intraparty election more credible. There should ideally have been multiple candidates for each party post. The problem is that according to the PML-N insiders, people don’t dare to challenge the top leaders because they know they will lose and the courage they show in contest against a titan would lead them nowhere but towards the exit.

The PML-N is by no means unique in this regard; other parties too need to get rid of the prevalent culture that favours flatterers, family members of the top leader and the rich and wealthy in party affairs. They should follow the popular definition of democracy: rule of the people, by the people, for the people.

The writer is a senior journalist, teacher of journalism, writer and analyst. He tweets at @BukhariMubasher