ISLAMABAD, May 14: A meeting of the Pakistan Muslim League leadership here on Saturday appeared to have left a question mark about whether local bodies elections would be held by the deadline of August because of differences within the party. The central executive committee meeting held to iron out a rift in the party decided to set up a task force headed by party president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to sort out complaints of different interest groups about the local bodies, sources said.

The decision gave rise to speculation whether the PML wanted the local bodies elections to be held by August or ask President Pervez Musharraf to postpone them for a couple of months. The differences were mostly about demands of various leaders for share of key offices, such as district nazims, for their close associates or relatives, particularly in Punjab.

They did not appear to be have been resolved in the meeting, according to the sources. Sources said it might not be so easy for Chaudhry Shujaat to remove the differences before the elections while his leadership was also under challenge.

Senior party leaders are likely to meet President Musharraf in the a few days and discuss the issues related to the local bodies elections. A postponement could relieve the PML from immediate worries about the local bodies while it faces internal differences and the dread of a speculated reconciliation between the president and the People’s Party Parliamentarians, the source said.

But it could also harm the party’s prospects if a PPP-Musharraf reconciliation comes about before the polls. The PPP wants mid-term general elections to be held this year. But the president has said that the local elections would be held by August and the general elections in 2007.