ISLAMABAD, Aug 12: The general council meeting of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League on Saturday was marred by outbursts of verbal abuses and exchange of blows between rival groups from Sindh.

The clashes occurred in the presence of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, ministers and other senior party leaders.

Prime Minister Aziz’s speech was interrupted by slogan-chanting by supporters of Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim and Imtiaz Shaikh, who started with exchange harsh words which turned into violent fist-fights.

Both the groups had been hurling abuses against each other since the beginning of the meeting. Intermittent shouts turned into bouts of slogan chanting, which soon turned into a free-for-all with chairs flying from one corner of the hall to the other.

The prime minister later left the meeting in a hurry, forcing the organisers to announce “an early lunch”.

The venue of the meeting was too small for the gathering with estimates ranging between 2,000 and 2,500 participants.

Some participants of the meeting had earlier expressed reservations when they learnt that the chief ministers of Sindh and Balochistan, along with some senators, had been turned away from the meeting’s venue “for security reasons”.

Earlier, the general council meeting of the ruling PML through a resolution endorsed the re-election of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Mushahid Hussain Syed as president and secretary general, respectively, and empowered the party president to nominate all office-bearers.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz praised the party’s performance and expressed the confidence that the party would win the next general elections.

A resolution was adopted, calling for General Pervez Musharraf’s re-election “to avoid a constitutional crisis”.

The meeting also adopted a resolution condemning Israeli incursions inside Lebanon, causing massive civilian casualties and calling for an immediate ceasefire.

PPI ADDS: Prime Minister Aziz also reiterated the government’s commitment to ensure the country’s development in all fields and said that the country’s progress would be guided by principles of Quaid-i-Azam — unity, faith and discipline.