PML-N considers launching Maryam Nawaz's son

The embattled Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is considering launching Maryam Nawaz's son Junaid Safdar for its election campaign, the media reported on Tuesday.

Safdar, a student of politics at a UK university, reached Pakistan on Monday and is expected to meet his grandfather and jailed former Premier Nawaz Sharif, father retired Captain Safdar Awan and mother, all three imprisoned at Adiyala Jail in Rawalpindi, Dawn online reported.

Sharif and his daughter were arrested in Lahore last week on their arrival from London after an accountability court found them guilty over their ownership of four luxury flats in the UK. Maryam Nawaz's husband was arrested later.

A senior party official told Dawn online whether Junaid Safdar manages to visit his elders in jail or not, he was likely to address corner meetings in certain constituencies.

"Though many PML-N candidates are yearning to invite Safdar in their respective campaigns, it's being planned to arrange corner meetings in constituencies NA-127 (Lahore-V), from where his mother had planned to contest before her disqualification; NA-132 (Lahore-X), the seat where PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif is a candidate; and in NA-59 (Rawalpindi-II), where incarcerated PML-N leader Raja Qamarul Islam is fighting against former Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan," the official said.

He said a decision on selecting more constituencies for Safdar and content of his speeches will be taken after his meeting with his mother.

The official said that the party will release more audio and, if possible, video messages of Sharif and her daughter during the party's electioneering if the duo is denied bail in the Avenfield case.

One audio message each of the two leaders was already released through the social media.

--IANS

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