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| September 4, 2005 | Sunday | Rajab 29, 1426 |
Candidates for 3rd phase discussed
ISLAMABAD, Sept 3: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and president of ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Saturday had a detailed meeting with President General Pervez Musharraf to discuss and finalize a strategy for the forthcoming third phase of the local government elections.
The three leaders had an in-depth discussion on the completion of first two phases of local government polls with reference to the party performance as well as the differences that have cropped up in the party ranks in various districts.
The PML president briefed the president on meetings he had held during the last few days with various party groups who had contested the LB polls in rival groups and every one of them was hoping to get the district/tehsil and town nazim’s nominations of their choice.
The president advised the party president to take all the coalition partners on board instead of making a solo flight in nomination of district/tehsil and town nazims to avoid acrimony.
Informed sources said that various names were discussed for nazim’s posts in various districts where the PML was divided in groups. The president advised the party to minimise these differences by accommodating the viewpoint of every group.
While there were reports of finalisation of Raja Javed Akhlas’s name as PML candidate for nazim of Rawalpindi, they also discussed names for other districts, including Gujranwala, Okara, Multan, Chakwal and Sialkot, etc.
There is already consensus on the name of Amir Mehmud, former Lahore district city nazim, to be the party candidate for October 6 elections.
Minister of state and party information secretary senator Tariq Azim told Dawn that the three leaders were to discuss various aspects of the local councils elections but there was no urgency of naming party candidates at this stage.
Internal party rifts also came under discussion mainly about complaints on the arbitrary nominations made by Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvaiz Elahi in various districts and tehsils.
The Punjab CM was also expected to call on the president in the next twenty-four hours to brief him about the successful completion of local government polls and the party’s performance.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid had already indicated that the name for the Rawalpindi district nazim will be finalised by President Musharraf on Saturday.
The president also discussed the performance of the federal cabinet, the sources said, in the light of the one-year performance report submitted to him by Prime Minister Aziz the other day.
There were rumours that some changes in the cabinet might be needed keeping in view its one-year performance. However, a reshuffle appears not likely for the time being because it might entail political fallout.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, who had a meeting with his Israeli counterpart in Istanbul, also joined the three at a later stage to brief them about his talks.
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