KARACHI: Shehbaz Sharif, the new chairman of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), arrived in Karachi on Monday to kick start his party’s election campaign from the capital of Sindh.

“Will be reaching Karachi today on a two-day tour to kick-start PMLN’s Election Campaign 2018,” Sharif tweeted before flying to Karachi for his party’s first campaign. His elder brother, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was out of country for the crucial moment.

Sharif also tweeted: “Being a party of the Quaid-i-Azam (great leader, a reference to state founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah), it is our pledge that we will not rest till we accomplish the dream of Pakistan being a progressive, inclusive, democratic and Islamic welfare state.”

The PML-N chief chose businessmen and traders for his first address and promised to work for the development and prosperity of Karachi.

He also promised to tackle critical issues in Karachi such as the water shortage, poor hygiene and lack of transport infrastructure.

“The provincial budget is not sufficient to develop Karachi, which is a revenue engine for the entire country,” Sharif said, urging that the center should also allocate funds to develop commercial capital.

Sharif’s two-day program includes the formal launch of his election campaign from his visit of NA-149, the constituency from which he will contest the election. In the evening, he will speak at a football ground in Baldia, a town to the west of Karachi.

There he will meet voters before visiting the constituency of former finance adviser Miftah Ismail to support his election campaign. 

On Tuesday he will meet donors, media, women entrepreneurs, before visiting the PPP stronghold of Lyari, where the PML-N gained support during the last local government elections.

Analysts, however, have questioned the wisdom of the PML-N’s decision to begin the campaign in Karachi.

“The organization of PML-N in Karachi is weak, and it unlike other parties, isn’t organized to the level of ward and union council,” Fazil Jamili, a senior journalist, told Arab News, adding that some local businessmen had insisted that Shehbaz Sharif should fight from Karachi.

“He collected nomination papers, then announced that he would not contest (it) and reviewed the decision again, which shows he was not sure about his victory from Karachi,” Jamili said, adding: “The start of election campaign from the megacity is aimed at averting his defeat from Karachi. The decision is not wise.”

However, senior analyst Mubashir Zaidi, said: “Since MQM’s disintegration into several groups, PML-N believes that it can grab a couple of seats from Pakistan’s biggest city and business hub,” Zaidi told Arab News.

“It’s not certain that PML-N can make its mark in Karachi as the party has ignored Karachi for the past 30 years,” he said. “The move is more aimed at least having some footprints. Being a financial hub, Karachi’s business community has been appreciative of the PML-N approach lately, after the failure of PPP and MQM to deliver in the past three decades.”

Abdul Jabbar Nasir, a senior analyst from Karachi, said that while Shehbaz Sharif has started the election campaign, the voters of Karachi will vote for Nawaz Sharif.

“Had PML-N focused on Karachi few months back, it would have been in good position and could grab some national and provincial assembly seats from Sindh,” Nasir said.

Nasir added that were Nawaz Sharif to be starting the campaign, the party would have performed well in elections from Sindh.