15 May 2004	Saturday	24 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, May 14: The (unified) Pakistan Muslim League will face some legal problems when it applies for registration with the Election Commission and holds election of its office-bearers, according to experts.

The process of unification, which was accelerated under some political exigencies, has left many questions unanswered, the experts said.

The defection clause has become operative for all the different League factions' legislators after their respective organizations ceased to exist on Wednesday till the Election Commission registers the new entity and admits them as members of the new party.

The issue of formation and representation of different factions on it will also be a contentious one.

Similarly, the government will have to amend the Political Parties Order soon to allow the holding of party and public offices together so that the three party chief ministers continue to hold party offices.

Meanwhile, the (dissolved) PML-Q leader, Syed Kabir Ali Wasti, said if the reservations of a group in the party were not allayed they may launch a party under his stewardship.

Talking to Dawn he said, "We will wait till the election of new office-bearers, and if our point of view is not accommodated we will take a legal course."

Mr Wasti said Wednesday's meeting at the PML House was a public rally of party workers who were brought by different factions from across the country to show their strength, but certainly it was not the general council meeting.

He said if it was a general council meeting then how come foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri entered the venue along with his workers in 42 coaches from Kasur.

He said that he might take over the PML-Q as its acting president, claiming that a large number of party workers would support him.

Mr Wasti said that the PML would expect at least 90 per cent representation in the cabinet.

The election of new office-bearers is not expected till the merger of National Alliance.

Besides, the PML-Q faction, the PML-F and the National Alliance would claim maximum party portfolios and for this purpose Chaudhry Shujaat will be consulting all of them in the next few days.

Many PML-Q faction leaders, including few MNAs, were of the view that Wednesday's gathering was not a meeting of general council since no list of members was provided to the organizers nor any registration of delegates was done.

They doubted the legality of the resolution passed by the meeting which authorized Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to amend the constitution drafted by the joint constitution committee headed of Senator S. M. Zafar.