30 July 2004	Friday	12 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

PESHAWAR, July 29: Pakistan Muslim League's provincial information secretary, Malik Riaz Ahmad, and some members of the party's provincial council have resigned from their posts to protest against Agha Syed Ali Shah's nomination as the party's provincial president.

Malik Riaz made the announcement at a press conference here at the local press club on Thursday. He was accompanied by Hafizullah Khan, Malik Shamsuddin, Nadir Khan, Behlol Khattak and Arif Bashir.

They threatened to launch a protest campaign if the party's leadership did not revoke its decision. Malik Riaz expressed disappointment over the PML's decision and said that it had nominated a disputed person as the party's provincial president without consulting the local leadership.

He accused PML leaders of practising what he termed drawing-room politics and said it would damage the party in the NWFP, adding that it had strong roots among the masses here.

Acknowledging the party workers' struggle in the province, he said they had succeeded to some extent but not enough to win sufficient seats to form a government in the province.

He said that nobody should doubt the sincerity of the party's workers, adding that they deserved to be taken into confidence while making a decision of this magnitude.

He said that the party had nominated chief ministers in other provinces but in the NWFP, a non-elected persons had been made the party resident, adding that it was totally unjustified. He said that at least a member of the NWFP Assembly should have been given the task.

He criticized Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and alleged that he had left party affairs at the mercy of "a few who want to damage the party's reputation through a conspiracy".