LAHORE, Sept 17: Although the PML-N members of the Punjab Assembly have yet to submit their resignations to the speaker for approval, the ruling party on Sunday set up a committee under the chairmanship of Secretary-General Chaudhry Zaheeruddin to receive applications from people desirous of contesting “by-elections” on the seats to be vacated by opposition legislators.

Zaheeruddin, who is also a minister, will now sit in Muslim League House everyday to receive applications.

Twenty-eight out of 32 MPAs of the PML-N handed over their resignations to provincial president Sirdar Zulfikar Khosa on Thursday, who was supposed to forward them to the party chairman for submission to the speaker at an appropriate time. The remaining four were out of the country.

Chaudhry Zaheeruddin said while talking to Dawn that this was the “fourth” time that the PML-N MPAs had submitted their “resignations”. He said the ruling party wanted them to vacate their seats so that by-elections could be held within the period laid down by the Constitution.

Asked if such a committee was also being set up to make arrangements for by-polls on seats currently occupied by the PPP lawmakers, Zaheeruddin answered in the positive. He said so far the PPP legislators had been making idle threats of vacating their seats, and the day they carried them out, the ruling party would take necessary steps to hold by-elections.

The PPP, the PML-N and the MMA have about 100 seats in the Punjab Assembly. About a dozen MPAs belonging to the three parties have already changed their loyalties to get official positions.

Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi presided over a meeting on Sunday to discuss preparations for by-election on PP-157 (Lahore), due to be held on Sept 30.

The seat had fallen vacant when PML-N MPA Rana Tajammal was disqualified.

Rana has been selected as the ARD candidate for the seat. The MMA has also nominated its candidate for the constituency, although the ARD claims that the religious alliance is supporting Rana Tajammal.

The ruling party has nominated Naveed Ashiq Dyal.

All councillors from the constituency assured the chief minister that they were working very seriously to ensure the victory of the ruling party candidate.

Ministers Chaudhry Zaheeruddin, Qudsia Lodhi, Nasim Lodhi and Abdul Aleem Khan, nazim Mian Amer Mehmud, Lahore PML president Mian Munir and Talib Sindhu, Haji Hanif, Haji Imdad Husain, Mian Abdus Sattar, Mian Ikhlas Guddu, Khwaja Tahir Zia, Akhtar Rasool were also present at the meeting.

The chief minister said this was the first time that the assemblies would complete their constitutional tenure of five years. He said it was because of President Musharraf that the political system was stable.

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said the government had taken a number of measures to solve problems being faced by people of southern Punjab, and it was on account of these steps that the party had won local elections in Multan, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and other districts of the region. — Ashraf Mumtaz