ISLAMABAD, Aug 28: The Musharraf government and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League appear to have been rocked by the recent show of dissent by a number of legislators, some of whom have clearly stated that they will not vote for him if he tries to get himself re-elected president in uniform.

As if the shock of Ishaq Khakwani’s resignation were not enough, Ali Hasan Gilani, one of the 43 parliamentary secretaries, announced his resignation on Tuesday. Mr Gilani, too, is a vocal opponent of the president keeping two offices.

Insiders say 21 PML-Q legislators had already applied for PML (Nawaz) tickets and 17 of them had won assurances. In addition, the party had lost a large number of votes for different reasons, sources said.

For instance, Omar Ghumman, son of a close friend of President Musharraf who resigned as minister of state after developing differences with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and left for the US, is not expected to come back for casting his vote.

Similarly, the disgraced former minister of state, Shahid Jamil Qureshi who was implicated in the murder of Kafila Siddiqui, is also not likely to cast his vote because he feels the government did not help him in his hour of trial.

The seat of Amir Liaquat Hussain, a former minister belonging to the MQM, has been vacant following his resignation and is not going to be filled till the completion of the tenure of present assemblies.

Ishaq Khakwani, the minister of state for information technology, who tendered his resignation on Monday, is not the first to have expressed his disagreement with the party’s line on Gen Musharraf’s re-election in uniform by the present assemblies.

There are many such names, but one of the most prominent among them is that of PML-Q vice-president Kabir Ali Wasti. He remained a staunch supporter of Gen Musharraf of late, but as soon as he opposed his re-election in uniform, he was summoned by the party’s president and reprimanded for his statements.

A spokesperson for the

Pakistan Muslim League on Tuesday said Mr Wasti was neither senior vice-president nor vice-president of the party as he did not contest the elections held last year.

Party sources say that not only several legislators from southern Punjab refused to attend a recent meeting with Gen Musharraf in Lahore, but they also had established contacts with the rival PML faction led by Nawaz Sharif.

“It is not clear whether the efforts initiated by former prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali to unite League groups other then PML-Q will bear fruit or not. But one thing seems sure that Pir Pagara’s Functional League will join hands with Nawaz Sharif not out of love for it, but to embarrass the Chaudhrys,” a source said.

However, a more serious problem for President Musharraf and the ruling party is that a number of its lawmakers are contacting the PML (Nawaz) and seeking its ticket for the general election, insiders say.

Some prominent names among those who have decided to say goodbye to the PML-Q are Makhdoom Ahmed Alam Anwar, Akhtar Kanju, Tasnim Nawaz Gardezi, Farooq Azam, Bahadur Khan Sayar and Saima Akhtar Bharwana.