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| November 15, 2005 | Tuesday | Shawwal 12, 1426 |
Shujaat ready to reconcile with party dissidents
ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: The chief of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML), Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, on Monday expressed willingness to reconcile with the ‘forward bloc’ within his party and offered to meet the dissidents in “an atmosphere of their choice”.
But the dissident group has rejected the overture and said it would not talk to him until its members had a meeting with President General Pervez Musharraf.
The PML chief told reporters at Parliament House that there was no question of him stepping down from the party post as he had been elected by the general council which was the only competent body to sack him or replace him.
Meanwhile, a prominent member of the “forward bloc” categorically stated that the group would not meet Mr Hussain until it had held a meeting with General Musharraf and informed him about their grievances and their reasons for forming the forward bloc.
Mr Hussain, however, appealed to the estranged leaguers not to involve the president in the party’s affairs. “President Musharraf has taken major decisions in the country’s interest and he is currently occupied with the Oct 8 quake disaster and its aftermath,” he said.
Mr Hussain said he was ready to go to his detractors if they were shy of meeting him at his place or could arrange a meeting in the presence of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to provide them an atmosphere of their choice.
As PML president, Mr Hussain said it was his duty to satisfy all party members and leaders by removing their reservations, if any, or if they felt aggrieved by any of his actions.
Meanwhile, sources close to the ‘forward bloc’ who have been restrained by the president from going to the media have expressed their determination to enlarge their group as a number of female MNAs and some more ministers had wanted to join them.
The sources said the group would probably return to the media after Nov 20 when President Musharraf is likely to be free after attending the international donors’ conference on Nov 19.
The group expects the president to summon its members for a meeting soon after the conference concludes.
A member of the group said it had full confidence in General Musharraf’s wisdom and would abide by his instructions. He claimed the group’s position had been strengthened as a good number of MPs had contacted and assured it of their support in its struggle against the Chaudhrys of Gujrat.
While the group had decided not to meet the media on the directive of General Musharraf, he said Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had appeared on a private television channel in violation of the instruction.
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