LAHORE, Sept 10: Senior politician, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, on Tuesday stepped down as president of the multi-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), saying, his health did not allow him to continue shouldering the responsibility any more.
He announced the decision at a news briefing at his Nicholson Road residence.
As the ARD head, he brought the two arch rivals, the PPP and PML-N, together in the last quarter of 2000.
This is the second time in less than a year that Nawabzada has resigned as head of the coalition. However, previously he took back his decision on request from a number of leaders.
He is set to leave for his native town Khangarh on Wednesday, where he will stay till elections are over.
Sources close to the octogenarian leader say that he was upset with the attitude of some alliance components and was finding it increasingly difficult to defend their decisions. The ARD’s Tuesday decision to postpone the Sept 15 public meeting at the Minar-i-Pakistan lawns to Sept 28 proved the proverbial last straw on the camel’s back. This meeting was initially scheduled for Sept 5 but was first delayed till Sept 15 on the request of some alliance components.
Nawabzada wanted to set a new precedent by putting the rival parties to contest elections from the same platform.
It is said the deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif had also called on Nawabzada requesting him to delay the meeting so as the component parties could be able to make better preparations. A PML-N leader also reportedly said that since the central leadership had set Sept 15 date for the public meeting, they alone could make arrangements. However, the PPP leaders said they were ready to play their role to make preparations for the Sept 15 meeting on schedule. The divisional leaders of the PPP met under the chairmanship of provincial president Qasim Zia on Tuesday to discuss the preparations.
The PPP and PML-N have begun deliberating over their future course of action in the light of Nawabzada’s resignation.
According to a PPP leader, his party was willing to withdraw its candidate against Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, who is a candidate from a Lahore National Assembly seat. However, he said, PML-N President, Mian Shahbaz Sharif and PPP secretary-general Jehangir Badr would contest against each other.
The PML-N would not contest against PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan, who has been defence counsel to both Ms Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif. However, Nawabzada’s decision has put in jeopardy whatever little understanding the PPP and PML-N had reached on electoral adjustments.
“You have been demanding immediate elections since the overthrow of the PML government. But you are not in a position to arrange a public meeting even after three years. Why is it so?” a reporter asked.
Nawabzada said uncertainty about the elections prevailed even today and nobody believed that elections would be held on schedule. However, he regretted that statements made by some key leaders added to confusion.
The PML(Jinnah), which has been given some tickets by the PML- QA, was represented at the Tuesday meeting. Mian Waheed, who represented the party, claimed that PML-QA tickets had been announced unilaterally, without the consent of his party. However, he did not say that his party would return the tickets.
Nawabzada said it was possible that the recipients had defected the party under pressure from the government.
LAHORE, Sept 10: Senior politician, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, on Tuesday stepped down as president of the multi-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), saying, his health did not allow him to continue shouldering the responsibility any more.
