PML-N to hold organisers responsible over inability to mobilise support at PDM Lahore jalsa

• PML-N created too much hype
• Shahbaz, Hamza may not be on board with resignations
• Maryam all in for accountability for organisers who failed to mobilise support

LAHORE: At face value, the Opposition may have declared December 13 jalsa in Lahore a success but the PML-N is introspecting why it could not pull a bigger crowd.

Speaking to Geo Pakistan on Tuesday, Geo News’ Lahore Bureau Chief Raees Ansari said the matter was discussed “between the lines” during yesterday’s party meeting. “Obviously, they monitored the jalsa. They know what the situation was when Nawaz Sharif was delivering his speech.”

Ansari said the matter was not openly discussed but some leaders questioned organisers’ inability to pull a large crowd and emphasised that the public gathering did not go the way it should have. He said Maryam Nawaz acknowledged the unsaid and stated that there should be accountability in the party and the organisers should be questioned.

Read more: PDM demands govt step down till Jan 31 or face Opposition's long-march

"Too much hype"

Ansari said the Opposition created “too much” hype for the jalsa. “Maryam was on the streets herself to mobilise the public. They created this perception that the entire Minar-e-Pakistan would be packed and this would be a historic jalsa.”

The Bureau chief highlighted that the area itself spans over 125 acres out of which the ground selected by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to hold the political gathering is about 300,000 square feet. “Excluding area reserved for stage and other things leaves you with about 260,000 square feet for the public. Technically, about 28,000 people can fit into that venue.”

Ansari noted that most of the crowd was from outside the city. “Very few people from Lahore made it to the jalsa.” Most importantly, the party could not mobilise Shahbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz’s support base. “The interior city of Lahore backs Hamza. If they had come, the ground would be jam-packed.”

Also read: Maryam Nawaz says PDM's Lahore rally was so huge some people couldn't make it to the venue

Getting Shahbaz Sharif on board

The journalist revealed that the coordinators backed by Shahbaz and Hamza were removed from the organisers’ list. “I think Shahbaz and Hamza are not on board with the narrative being pushed by Nawaz and Maryam. I had asked Hamza recently if he supported the long march and resignations, he kept quiet. He neither accepted nor denied.”

The bureau chief, however, does not think a long march would make a difference. “Imran Khan stayed in Islamabad for four and a half months but the government stayed. PDM can also try but if PML-N wants to mobilise support, it needs to get Shahbaz and Hamza on board.

Ansari believes Bilawal Bhutto Zardari might be going to jail to not only offer condolences on Begum Shamim Akhtar’s death but to also discuss future strategies with Shahbaz. “I think Shahbaz may agree with the long march but he would have a different point of view on resignations. In the end, though, Shahbaz would do what Nawaz says. He would not distance himself from the PML-N’s narrative.