ISLAMABAD June 24: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan on Friday held meetings with President General Pervez Musharraf in order to sort out their differences ahead of the local council polls.

Meanwhile, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has rejected the demand of a group of 158 MNAs to postpone the upcoming local government elections for the sake of accountability of the incumbent local councils.

The 158 MPs had written a letter to President General Pervez Musharraf calling for the postponement of local body polls till the accountability process of all local councils was completed.

This was the second such letter written by lawmakers. Last week, 140 MNAs wrote a similar letter to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. Sources said the MNAs decided to approach the president after getting the cold shoulder from the prime minister.

On Thursday Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Parvez Elahi had a meeting with President Musharraf. The prime minister was also present. One topic that came under discussion was the relationship between the Chaudhrys and Humayun Akhtar.

Mr Akhtar had a separate meeting with President Musharraf the same day in which he discussed, among other things, the possibility of his younger brother Haroon Akhtar Khan assuming the post of Lahore Nazim.

Chaudhry Shujaat rejected the lawmakers’ demand to delay local council polls and said that elections would probably be announced in 8 to 10 days.

The PML chief said that local council polls could not be postponed merely for the sake of accountability and that the process could be held together with the elections.

Responding to a question about his meeting with President Musharraf, he said that the president seldom interfered in party matters, but conceded that he expressed his concerns whenever he felt the need to point out some weaknesses.

Mr Hussain quashed rumours of differences creeping into party ranks and said that all decisions were being taken through consultation. The rumour was fuelled by a newspaper interview of the commerce minister in which he expressed reservations about the working of the party and pointed to leadership weaknesses. He told the paper that these “weaknesses” had forced General Musharraf to look towards the PPP.

Mr Hussain refused to offer any comments on New Delhi’s decision to refuse Information Minister Sheikh Rashid’s application to visit Occupied Kashmir by bus.

According to informed sources, General Musharraf has advised his staunch supporter Humayun Akhtar Khan to end his acrimony with the Chaudhry family and refrain from indulging in activities that damage both the party’s and the government’s image.

Later, Humayun Akhtar Khan appeared in front of the media at the side of PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to announce his allegiance to the Chaudhry family.

He said he had very cordial relations with the Chaudhrys since both parted ways with the Nawaz League and insisted that his newspaper interview was not intended as a criticism of any individual but was intended only as advice for the party’s organisation.

When asked whether a decision had been taken to bring in Humayun Akhtar Khan’s younger brother as Lahore Nazim, Mr Hussain said that Mr Haroon Akhtar was a valuable party leader and a former MPA. Mr Akhtar was less restrained in his support for his brother, saying he had defeated the present Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Qasim Zia in the 1993 polls.

Mr Hussain said, “We have to establish a political culture in which every one is able to listen to criticism and whoever is criticized is not rated as weaker if he doesn’t respond to criticism”.

To a query about the NGOs’ role with particular reference to the Mukhtaran Mai case, the former prime minister said there were good NGOs and there were bad ones as well. Mr Hussain said that while making Mukhtaran Mai a burning topic was alright, energies should be focussed on the struggle against the mentality which causes such tragedies.