05 July 2004	Monday	16 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

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ISLAMABAD July 4: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League is sharply divided over distribution of provincial party offices and titles among its members, sources told Dawn on Sunday.

A meeting of PML office-bearers convened by Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain as president of the party at the Prime Minister's House on Saturday failed to finalise and announce the list of provincial office-bearers after some resistance was put up by influential groups in the party, the sources claimed.

The situation, according to insiders, arose when Ijazul Haq who led his own faction of the PML into the new Muslim League objected to the nomination of Syed Ali Shah as the party's provincial president in the NWFP. He said, there should be consultation among party leaders before making such decisions.

As a result, Prime Minister Hussain ordered further consultations among the central party leadership and in all the four provinces before finalising the list of office-bearers.

The party, it may be recalled had appointed about a dozen senior vice presidents and even a number of vice-presidents besides filling up the office of party secretary general, but had left out the nominations on provincial offices.

After completion of the process of nominations on all the offices the party would convene a general council for election of the party office-bearers as provided for by the Political Parties Order 2000.

Inside sources said there was a contention in the party cadres over change of guard in Punjab and Balochistan as the provincial chief ministers were still occupying the party offices in both.

To accommodate both the chief ministers and some other office-bearers a consideration has recently emerged that the separation of party offices from those of public offices would not auger well for strengthening of the party, and that the PPO should be amended as such.