29 January 2004	Thursday	06 Zilhaj 1424

ISLAMABAD Jan 28: The re-organisation of the five factions of the Pakistan Muslim League party has finally been set in motion and the process is expected to be completed in the next couple of months, party sources told Dawn on Wednesday.

As a first step, a meeting of the general councils of all the five factions of PML has been planned after Eid-ul-Azha, PML-Q information secretary senator Tariq Azim said.

Over 2,000 members of all the party factions will meet trim the current total strength for the new general council of the unified party to 1500 members, which will later on elect a 200-member central working committee (CWC).

While the PML-Q has a 1060-member general council and between 75 to 130 members in its CWC, the other party factions have less numbers in their party general councils.

A crucial meeting of the leadership of the five factions was held with the unified PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in the chair on Tuesday, which decided that the constitution of the PML-Q party will be adopted as the constitution of the unified league.

The meeting held at the residence of the president of the PML Junejo group (PML-J) Hamid Nasir Chattha, was also attended by Saeed Minhais from the PML Jinnah faction led by Manzoor Wattoo, Haider Usman, Senator Tariq Azeem, Imtiaz Sheikh, Shamimuddin, Sheikh Sirajuddin, Iqbal Dar, Iqbal Kastro, Maqbool Sheikh and Senator S.M. Zafar.

The meeting asked Senator S.M.Zafar to meet the chief election commissioner and discuss with him the legal aspects of unifying the five party factions and report back to the party in next leadership meeting.

The factional leaders presented their own lists for selection of probable party office bearers to the party president Chaudhry Shujaat and empowered him to choose from among them for appointment as he desired fit.

Informed sources believe that the PML-Q faction which has a massive presence in parliament and the provincial assemblies will obtain the lion's share in the new general council, CWC and the central and the provincial offices.

After the leadership meeting, Chaudhry Shujaat has emerged even stronger and has now acquired the political strength to get rid of a number of his party office bearers with whom he has been unable to create a good working relationship, or those who have become a burden on the party due to their inactivity.

He will, however, be faced with a dilemma while deciding about the provincial party chiefs as three out of four provincial party presidents are also chief ministers of their respective provinces, including Chaudhry Pervez Elahi who is the chief minister of Punjab.

Salim Saifullah Khan who was appointed the party secretary general by Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan when he relinquished the party office after assuming highest public office is expected to become a major casualty as he is said to have lost favour with the party president, inside sources claimed.

The sources said that the party secretary general has been blamed for overspending party funds specially on appointments of paid workers of his own choice, instead of generating funds from his own resources.