February 27, 2008	Wednesday	Safar 19, 1429

LAHORE, Feb 26: Twenty-two independent MPAs joined the Pakistan Muslim League-N here on Tuesday, while a meeting of the parliamentary party in the Punjab assembly endorsed the nomination of Mian Shahbaz Sharif as its parliamentary leader.

Two MPAs from the MMA also announced support for the PML-N in the provincial assembly.

Welcoming the new entrants to the party, Mr Shahbaz said at a press conference that the PML-N had gained a simple majority after getting the support of 151 of 298 MPAs in the 371-member provincial assembly.

The PML-N won 104 seats, while 79 went to the PPP and 68 to the PML-Q. Thirty-five seats were secured by independents. Polling for five seats was postponed.

Mr Shahbaz said his party had reached an understanding with the PPP and would make it next move in consultation with it. He said that emergency had been lifted and the new legislators would take oath under the 1973 Constitution.

Answering a question, he said: “We will not forcibly occupy the Muslim League House.”

Later, Nawaz Sharif announced at a press conference that Mr Shahbaz would be the party’s parliamentary leader in the Punjab assembly and expressed the hope that he would do his best to meet the expectations of the electorate.

Ousted out of the electoral race because of rejection of his nomination papers, Mr Shahbaz will now contest a by-election, most probably from PP-154 where election has been postponed because of the murder of the PML-N candidate.

Independent legislators who joined the PML-N included Syed Ali Raza, Asif Saeed Manais, Abdul Hafeez Niazi, Mohammad Feroze Joiya, Chaudhry Javed Ahmad, Mohammad Asif Bha, Malik Jehanzeb Waran, Col (retd) Shuja Khanzada, Karam Elahi Bandial, Tahir Ahmad Sindhu, Iftikhar Ahmad Baloch, Mohammad Masood Lali, Chaudhry Mohammad Saqlain, Javed Awan, Moeen Wattoo, Rai Farooq, Ali Abbas Khokhar, Maulana Ilyas Chinioti, Irfanuddin, Mian Mohammad Kazim and Mohammad Safdar Gill.

MMA legislators who announced support for the PML-N are Ali Haider Noor Niazi and Ahmad Kareem Langrial.