24 February 2005	Thursday	14 Muharram 1426

KARACHI, Feb 23: Senior Vice President of the PML Al-haj Shamimuddin on Wednesday announced his decision to resign from several party offices he is holding.

Apart from the SVP, Mr Shamimuddin held the positions of organizer of the membership enrolment committee and chief strategist for the upcoming local bodies elections in Karachi.

He told a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday that he did not want to be a party to the Arbab-Imtiaz controversy which would neither boost the PML image nor would it help promote good governance.

He termed the present political crisis in Sindh 'a creation of corridor of powers' which, he said, had badly bruised the party. Mr Shamimuddin pointed out that over the last few days, the party workers who had been fully geared to enrol new members and turn the PML into a populist party once again, stood demoralized.

He wondered what would be the fate of the party in Sindh while the membership drive had stopped abruptly due to the tussle between the president and secretary general of the party's provincial set up.

He was of the view that if Dr Arbab had any differences with Imtiaz Shaikh over the latter's working, the matter should have been referred to the party high command, in accordance with the party discipline, instead of rushing for an action without taking into consideration its implications on the party.

The PML leader stressed the need for settling the matter within a week, saying that the period of 30 days given to the fact-finding committee was too long. He indicated that by the time the committee would submit its findings, the schedule of local bodies elections would have already been announced or about to be announced.

He maintained that it would be very difficult for the party workers to revive their enthusiasm and for the election campaign to pick up momentum in a short span of time that would be available to them. He apprehended that any lapse due to these factors could be blamed on him, so he decided not to carry on anymore.