LAHORE, Feb 21: Worried over reports that a good number of newly elected PML-Q legislators in Punjab are in touch with the PML-N leadership, the high command of the former ruling party on Thursday took an ‘undertaking’ from them that they would not defect to any other party.

The PML leadership called a meeting of the 66 winning and defeated candidates at the Muslim League House to ask them to pledge to remain loyal to the party and discuss with them the factors responsible for the party’s electoral defeat. The meeting was presided over by PML Punjab president Pervaiz Elahi.

The former chief minister, who was accompanied by former provincial ministers Basharat Raja, Chaudry Zaheeruddin and Arshad Lodhi and Punjab Assembly Speaker Afzal Sahi, had asked them to ‘give their word of honour’ that they would not quit the party for ‘personal gains’.

A party source told Dawn that the MPAs-elect assured the party leaders that they would remain loyal to the party and would not succumb to ‘temptations’. The PML leadership, he said, convinced them that the new government would not remain in power for a long period and what they needed to do was just ‘play the waiting game’.

Interestingly, the source said, most of the losers were of the view that some ‘hidden hands’ had converted their victory into defeat. The leadership also seemed to agree with them, he added.

He said the PML-Q had decided not to negotiate for a share in power with the parties which had secured more seats in the provincial assembly.

“The PML-Q will sit in the opposition and former Communications and Works Minister Chaudhry Zaheeruddin will be the candidate for the leader of opposition,” the source said.

After the meeting, Chaudhry Pervaiz told newsmen that his prime objective now was to strengthen the party. He asked the PML-N to refrain from horse-trading, although he said it was the right of any political party to attract independent legislators.

He said the PML-Q and its allies had secured more votes than the PML-N in the Feb 18 polls.

He said: “This reflects that our party has maintained the status of a national level party while the PML-N has failed to get a single seat in Sindh and Balochistan.”

He said he believed that sitting in the opposition would be good for the party which, he said, had set a new tradition of accepting the election results with an open heart.

He said his party had also introduced the politics of tolerance.

He said that thousands of votes had been rejected at the polling stations of the constituencies where the PML candidates lost by ‘small margins’. There were also complaints of changing lists at some constituencies, he added.

He said: “The PML-Q is preparing the data in this regard for the information of the public.”

He said the Pakistan Muslim League-Q would monitor the performance of rival parties on a daily basis and remind them of the promises they had made to the people.