ATTOCK, Dec 10: Former state minister Malik Amin Aslam and a candidate of the PML from NA-57 has threatened to return the party ticket if Eman Waseem does not withdraw her nomination papers from the same constituency.

Party sources told Dawn that Mr Aslam had informed the PML leadership at a meeting in Islamabad that he would not contest the elections in the prevailing crisis.

Eman Waseem, a niece of the PML president and daughter of district nazim, is also running in the polls as an independent candidate from NA-57.

“The former minister has asked the party leadership to get Eman’s nomination papers withdrawn and urge her to contest the elections from NA-59,” the sources added.

Mr Amin has sought the intervention of the PML president to resolve the issue and told the party leadership that the rift will deal a blow to party’s chances of winning in the elections.

“Since the emergence of crisis, the matter had been brought to the notice of the party leadership to settle the issue, but no action has been taken in this regard,” the former minister was quoted as saying. The sources said Mr Amin had told the party leadership in categorical terms that he would return the ticket and consider some other options for his political survival if his grievances were not redressed.

When contacted, the former minister said he, as a last resort, had placed the issue before PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, who, he said, assured him of resolving the issue.

He hoped that the party leadership would take the matter seriously and respond positively, Mr Amin said. It is worth mentioning here that Eman Waseem withdrew her nomination papers from NA-59, the constituency from which she had contested the elections in 2002, in favour of her husband, Chaudhry Waseem Gulzar.—Correspondent