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| May 14, 2002 | Tuesday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 1, 1423 |
Move to replace Azhar brushed aside
ISLAMABAD, May 13: The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam) Central Working Committee (CWC) on Monday brushed aside the move to replace its chief Mian Mohammed Azhar with a consensus candidate for a unified league and linked unification of the PML factions to its approval before the final decision by the reconciliation committee.
However, party insiders admitted that a strong lobby supported by the power brokers was on the move to merge the factions and to cause a fatal dent in the PML (Nawaz) by bringing its influential block out to join the pro-Musharraf camp, even if change of president was necessitated.
The sources claimed that resisting the pressure to join the government-sponsored six-party alliance was a message to the power brokers that the party was not going to surrender everything and that the party leadership was determined to take its decisions within the CWC.
Mian Azhar, who presided over the meeting, later told a news conference that his party would definitely field its candidates against the (pro-Musharraf) alliance if no arrangement was made till the October polls.
He contradicted the report that any understanding on a supreme leadership council had been reached in his meeting with PML (Functional) chief Pir Pagaro. He said the party had decided that the Gohar Ayub committee would hold talks with all splinter groups, including PML(N), for reunification.
Asked what the purpose of his meeting with Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed was when the latter had rejected any chance of political cooperation with his party, Azhar said: “It was a social meeting as we have many things common with the JI since long.”
He dispelled the impression that his party was under pressure from any quarter to join the government-sponsored alliance. He said he was not under pressure for stepping down as party chief.
Asked should his party’s keeping away and National Alliance chief Farooq Leghari’s claim that the NA would take over power in the polls be taken as beginning of the end with the government, he said: “We were never assured power by anyone but the masses will get us to power.”
He expressed the confidence that his party was in a position to win more than two-third majority in the polls.
Mian Azhar refused to admit that his party was weakened in the post referendum scenario as admitted by the NWFP PML(QA) chief Salim Saifullah Khan.
Replying to a question regarding the move of replacing him with Ijazul Haq as party president, he said: “It should better be asked from him (Ijaz).”
Earlier, speaking at the CWC meeting, Mian Azhar admitted indiscipline in the party ranks, which he said was resulting in unnecessary bickering. He said: “Our main aim was restoration of democracy and all of us will have to work together to achieve this object.”
The party, through a resolution, called upon the government to complete arrangements for holding free and fair October elections and announce election schedule at the earliest.
It appreciated the efforts for unification of party factions and decided that all actions and proposals in this regard must be ratified by the CWC before their implementation. It called for barring of such individuals from contesting the elections who had no respect for the constitution and law.
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