ISLAMABAD, May 30: Some senior leaders of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League are reported to have questioned the rationale behind the party’s continuing policy of supporting the re-election of President General Pervez Musharraf by the current assemblies and his holding of the post of the army chief and said that the issues of uniform and re-election could have serious repercussions for the party.
Besides, according to party insiders, President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s categorical support for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement after the May 12 mayhem in Karachi has also not gone well with some important sections in the leadership and some leaders felt that it would affect the party’s election prospects in many constituencies.
As the judicial crisis continues to directly impact the domestic political situation, Prime Minister Aziz is reported to have been advised by the president not to leave the country. As a result, Premier Aziz cancelled his planned visit to Malaysia for the Islamic Economic Forum this week, and there are reports that his June 4 London visit may also been deferred.
The extent of anxiety within the ruling party became evident during the PML policy planning group’s meeting on Tuesday when even an otherwise cautious secretary-general, Mushahid Hussain Syed, expressed serious reservations over the plan to get the president re-elected from the present assemblies.
Sources in the party said that the idea was opposed by four senior party leaders at the Tuesday meeting.
They were reportedly also against re-electing the ‘president in uniform’.
Besides Mushahid Hussain, it is said, Senator S.M. Zafar, Lt-Gen (retd) Majeed Malik and Manzoor Wattoo are against the re-election of the president by the present assemblies and have warned that the move would have a ‘negative impact’ on the party’s prospects in the elections. According to Mushahid Hussain, the move may spark a major constitutional crisis.
Veteran Leaguers also discussed the judicial crisis and some of them stressed immediate damage-control efforts and moves to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed is reportedly leading the group which wants the government to take all possible means to immediately defuse the judicial crisis.
At the policy planning meeting, the insiders said, Prime Minister Aziz tried to interrupt and cut short the speeches of the critics of the policy relating to re-election and the judicial issue and asked the members to avoid speaking to the media.
