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18 October 2004
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Monday
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03 Ramazan 1425
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PML legislators told to follow party line
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Oct 17: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday held meetings with a number of legislators and advised them to follow the party line in the no-trust vote against the National Assembly speaker on Friday.
The ruling party is faced with difficulties following its failure to satisfy a number of groups in the ruling coalition despite the induction of a huge cabinet.
Party stalwarts have expressed fears that an angry lot of treasury members might make things difficult for the government on the day the no-trust motion against the speaker is taken up.
Inside sources said the prime minister faced some difficult moments during his meeting with the party MPs.
For one, Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan complained to him about what she called the 'coercive' and 'discriminatory' attitude of Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain. She said the speaker used tactics of intimidation against her supporters in the party in Sialkot, the city to which both the speaker and she belong.
She told Dawn that after listening to her grievances, the prime minister promised to appoint a two-man inquiry committee comprising PML secretary-general Mushahid Hussain Syed and chief whip Nasrullah Dareshak to sort out the matter.
She said she had stressed that the party must take the speaker to task if the inquiry "finds him guilty of charges I have levelled against him".
Dr Awan said she had assured the prime minister that despite her serious differences with the speaker, she would follow the party line during the no-trust proceedings against him.
When asked if the prime minister had advised her to skip the proceedings, she said "not yet, and if any such advice came, it will be for all members".
According to an official handout, the prime minister asked the elected representatives to play their due role in implementing the government's agenda of reforms.
During separate meetings with MNAs, he said the government continued to accord priority to social sector development.
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