December 03, 2007	Monday	Ziqa'ad 22, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Dec 2: Faced with an internal strife over allocation of party tickets, the Pakistan Muslim League leadership is reported making changes on a number of constituencies.

Party sources said that tickets issued to some candidates had been withdrawn in order to accommodate others. They said the party’s Parliamentary Board headed by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had awarded tickets in haphazard manner.

Lt-Gen (retd) Majeed Malik, who joined the PML in 2000 because of his friendship with Chaudhry Shujaat, was forced to part ways with the party and rejoin the PML (N) following a row over the issue of party ticket for his son-in-law Maj (retd) Tahir Iqbal in Chakwal.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Malik said he was already under pressure from his group to foil the designs of the PML Punjab president who had put up his own candidate against Tahir Iqbal.

He said he had been facing ‘strange attitude’ of Punjab the PML leadership for the past few years.

He said that Chaudhry Parvaiz Elahi was contesting the elections from Talagang, part of Chakwal district, without having consulted him. Similarly in Gujranwala, PML additional secretary-general Iqbal Dar had been allotted the party ticket for NA-96 and later dropped.

He told Dawn that a number of candidates awarded tickets by the parliamentary board were later dropped. Former MNA Bilal Ijaz is one such candidate.

Former federal minister Wasi Zafar was awarded a ticket, although Chaudhry Zahid Nazir had been declared a party candidate for a seat in Faisalabad. Rana Asim Nazir met with same fate.

The nomination of caretaker Minister for Women Development Barrister Shahida Jamil was withdrawn following pressure from some other candidates.

Similarly, the wife of senior party leader and former foreign affairs secretary-general Akram Zaki is reported to have returned the party ticket complaining that she had been put on lower priority in the list of candidates for reserved seats.

Kashmala Tariq and Marvi Memon, daughter of caretaker Minister for Information Nisar Memon, have obtained party tickets, while former minister Zubaida Jalal has been ignored and she filed her nomination papers as an independent candidate.