ISLAMABAD, June 7: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Thursday said that some members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League had either lost heart and joined the opposition ranks or they were deliberately keeping quiet over the ongoing political crisis.

Earlier, President Gen Pervez Musharraf had also complained of a similar attitude by coalition partners who, he said, were not defending him and leaving him in the lurch.

In a meeting with federal ministers and parliamentarians in his chambers in the parliament house, he called upon PML lawmakers to come forward and help the government in tiding over the crisis.

He urged them to attend parliamentary proceedings, defend the government’s point of view on issues and ensure quorum.

He claimed that the government did not believe in curbing press freedom, which could be judged from the growth of the electronic and print media in the country.

At the same time, he said, the media had a responsibility to abide by the code of conduct and norms of balanced and fair reporting.

A number of matters, including the new budget, the ongoing parliamentary session, the rowdy incident in the National Assembly’s press gallery and the understanding reached with media representatives over the Pemra ordinance were discussed in the meeting.

The prime minister said the government had engaged key media representatives and removed their apprehensions over the of the Pemra ordinance.

He urged them to stay focused on strengthening the party and reaching out to people in their constituency.

The participants agreed that the budget would be an occasion to reach out to the people and assured Mr Aziz that efforts would be made to widely project the positive measures of the budget.