KOHAT, July 10: Members of the forward bloc in the ruling PML have demanded dismissal of the party’s provincial president Amir Muqam who, according to them, ‘has spoiled the gains made by the government over the past four years’.

They accused Mr Muqam and his supporters of putting the government off the track of what they said its widely acclaimed domestic and foreign policies and of blackmailing president Pervez Mushrraf.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, forward bloc’s central chairman Zikria Khan urged President Musharraf and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to replace Amir Muqam with a ‘non-controversial and sincere person’. He pointed out that Mr Muqam had been appointed provincial president in violation of the party constitution, which had annoyed a number of workers and leaders.

He said that party elections should be held on July 27 as per schedule through secret ballot. He termed the proposal for electing office-bearers by show of hands not only against the constitution but a ploy of some leaders who ‘wanted to follow authoritarian policies’.

The bloc’s provincial president Ulas Khan Khalil alleged that Amir Muqam was pursuing the MMA agenda was intentionally harming party’s interests by dividing it into different groups at all levels.

He regretted that Mr Muqam had been given unlimited powers by the president who was unaware of his motives. He warned that if no action was taken by the central leadership of the PML to put things in order the graph of party’s popularity in the NWFP would further decline.

Referring to the incident of the Peshawar Press Club, Mr Khalil alleged that Amir Muqam had been giving instructions to the attackers from the Pesco headquarters. He demanded that Mr Muqam should tender an unconditional apology to journalists.

He accused Amir Muqam of misusing Rs35 million given to him for organising a party convention in Peshawar and said that President Musharraf refused to attend the convention after receiving reports that attendance would be thin.

After the press conference, the central and provincial leaders of the forward bloc set ablaze an effigy of Amir Muqam outside the Kohat Press Club, which was cordoned off by police during the programme to avert any untoward incident.

Others who were present in the press conference included Tahoor Khan Khattak and Ehsan Ullah, secretary information and secretary general of the forward bloc respectively, and about 100 party workers.