July 16, 2006	Sunday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 19, 1427

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ISLAMABAD July 15: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) has not been able to complete primary and district level elections in the party within the given timeframe due to serious differences in the party’s lower tiers, sources told Dawn on Saturday.

Chief Election Commissioner of the party, Senator Kamil Ali Agha, however, claimed that 60 to 70 per cent of the election process had been completed in all four provinces.

The party would complete the election of provincial office-bearers by July 25, added Senator Agha, who is also the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs.

In a meeting on July 1, party’s Central Executive Committee had decided that elections at the primary level would be completed by July 10, and district office-bearers and councilors would be elected by July 15.

However, the process had not even been initiated. A senior party leader claimed that elections in two districts of Islamabad could not be completed due to internal differences.

On Saturday, party president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had issued a notification, appointing Senator Agha as Chief Election Commissioner and Muhammad Iqbal Dar, Senator Ghaffar Qureshi, Mushtaq Ghani, Senator Saeed Hashmi and Mrs Yaqut Jamilur Rahman as members of the election commission.

These appointments were subject to the approval of party’s Central Working Committee, which has yet to meet for many months.

Thus the appointments are being questioned as extra-constitutional by many party stalwarts.

The ruling party had set August 12 for the election of central office-bearers, but the circumstances suggest that the party is unlikely to meet this deadline either.

Before elections to central party posts, the party has to elect provincial office-bearers by July 25. Already devoid of a national council of about 1,500 members, the party does not even have provincial councils in place.

Besides, there are serious differences within the provincial chapters of the party as well.

The newly-appointed NWFP president of the party Amir Muqam is facing tough resistance from the old guards while serious differences also exist in Sindh chapter of the party.

All is not well in the Punjab either while the party leadership is also not satisfied with the performance of party’s Balochistan president Jam Muhammad Yusuf.