LAHORE, Dec 24: Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali’s desire to reunify all factions of the Muslim League, including the one led by Mian Shahbaz Sharif, is less likely to translate into reality as differences among them on the question of leadership are simply insurmountable.

Some groups are already supporting the PML-Q in assemblies and are also in favour of unity, but they express reservations when they are asked to work under the leadership of somebody else.

At a recent meeting with PML-C chief Hamid Nasir Chattha, the prime minister asked him to work out some formula to bring all factions on one platform.

PML-N chairman Zafarul Haq doubted that the prime minister was serious in reunifying the fragmented party.

Talking to Dawn on Tuesday, he said the only way to reunify the PML was that all groups should accept the leadership and programme of the PML-N. This means those wanting to regroup would have to accept Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mian Sharif as their leaders and work for the programme given by them.

No other formula could provide a basis for unification, he said.

Observers say the formula is not acceptable to other factions, specially the governing PML-Q, and unless these two factions get together the unification will be a meaningless exercise even if all other groups join hands.

Mr Haq alleged that various leaders had been breaking the party for their own interests, at times “to cover up their crimes.” Efforts for unification are also motivated by expediencies, not principles, and are timed to coincide with their personal interests.

Thus, Mr Haq, although it was difficult for him to deny the need for unity among all factions, saw no chance of their getting together.

Mr Chattha, head of his own faction, offered a different solution.

He said the situation at present was quite different and since a faction named after Quaid-i-Azam was already in power as a result of elections, other PML factions could easily join hands with it. Mr Chattha is already supporting the PML-Q in the National Assembly, where he has only two seats.

The Jinnah League, the Functional and the PML-Z are also supporting the PML-Q from their own platforms.

In the past, the PML-C and the group led by Pir Pagara have been saying that every group should nominate its representatives to constitute a joint council to elect new office-bearers for the unified party.

However, the idea was not acceptable to the PML-Q and the PML-N as they were not willing to change their leadership at any cost.

Several rounds of unification talks held in the past had failed to produce any results. It was on May 27 when the six PML factions met to explore the possibility of unification, but the meeting concluded without any agreement on the definition of “unification”.

Gohar Ayub Khan, who had represented the PML-Q as its secretary-general, had said after the meeting that his party wanted cooperation among all factions while they maintained their respective organizational structures. This, in other words, meant a kind of alliance the constituents of which had their own office-bearers.