KARACHI: Saifullah rushes in to prevent PML-Q split
By Habib Khan Ghori
KARACHI, May 31: Saleem Saifullah Khan, Secretary General of Pakistan Muslim League-Q dashed to Karachi on Saturday amid reports of a split within the party’s Sindh chapter.
The reports were based on differences thought to have been cropped up between the party’s Sindh chief, Ghous Bakhsh Mahar, and Secretary General, Capt (r) Haleem Siddiqui.
At the Quaid-i-Azam international airport, it was quite disgusting to note that neither any prominent party leaders, supporting either Mr Mahar or Mr Siddiqui, nor any minister was there to welcome Mr Khan.
Among a few dozen party workers was the third-ranking leadership, Haleem Adil Shaikh, Munawwar Niazi, Naimat Khilji, Raja Shahab, Sardar Arif, Badar Channa, Waheed Awan and others — all supporters of Mr Mahar.
Amid slogans in favour of Mr Mahar, Saleem Saifullah Khan made a speech on the occasion and advised the party workers to play an active role for the uplift of the country. “Our country needs practical work, not sloganeering,” he declared and pointed out that the country had already suffered a lot due to the politics of slogans.
Warning the partymen against the elements conspiring to create a split within the party, he advised them to concentrate on resolving problems being faced by the masses.
Highlighting the importance of Karachi in national politics, he described the city as the ‘heart’ of the state. He urged the workers to forge unity in order to strengthen the party further.
Before leaving for the Chief Minister’s House, Mr Khan had a brief chat with reporters who were present at the airport. Responding to their questions, he said: “Differences do crop up between leaders in a political party, but it is unfortunate that such differences are made public.
Replying to a question, he said though the party’s provincial chief enjoyed powers to suspend any other office-bearer, the decision in the case of Maqbool Shaikh was ‘uncalled for’.
“Ghous Bakhsh Mahar is the party’s provincial president, whether one accepts it or not. Likewise, Haleem Siddiqui is the secretary general and both the persons will remain in their offices till any other decision from the central command,” he remarked.
Regarding the LFO controversy, the PML-Q leader said that the issue had been resolved and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal had assurance of its cooperation while remaining in the opposition. The situation would become clear within a couple of days, he added.
Mr Khan rejected rumours about the likelihood of assemblies’ suspension for presentation of budgets and emphatically declared that budgets would be presented in the assemblies.
MEETING: After his meeting with the prominent leaders and activists of the party at CM House here, Saleem Saifullah Khan said that the President of PML-Q, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, and other office-bearers had full confidence in the leadership of Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Khan Mahar, adds APP.
He called for ignoring minor differences and advised the partymen to work for strengthening the party at grassroots level with the spirit of unity and cohesion.
Mr Khan announced: “Mr Mahar is president, Mr Siddiqui is general secretary and Maqbool Shaikh is the chief organizer of PML-Q, Sindh. For the time being, no change is being contemplated in this regard.”
He termed ‘appropriate’ the suggestion put forward by some members that like in other three provinces, the party leadership in Sindh should be with the chief minister.
He, however, said that the current situation should prevail in Sindh and that a working relationship should be created in all the segments of the party.
Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Mahar, Minister Altaf Unar, former minister Ismail Rahu, Sahibzada Munir, Adad Ali Junejo, Ali Bux Shah, Dr Rahimul Haq and Raziq Khan were among those present at the meeting.
