LAHORE, April 23: Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi says the ruling PML is the major supporter of President Musharraf and there’s just no possibility of the president ditching it to join hands with other parties. “There’s no harm if the president seeks support from any other party or individual to further strengthen the position of the PML,” he said while talking to Dawn on Saturday.

He was asked to comment on the president’s recent statements that the PPP is a moderate and enlightened party which he would like to take along, and the consequent speculations that the in the changed situation the general may distance himself from the PML to win support from the PPP.

“It’s not possible. We have been supporting him since the day he took over. The PML is the power base of General Musharraf. He may think of strengthening his base, not weakening it or leaving it”, said Pervaiz Elahi, who is also Punjab president of the party.

Answering a question, the chief minister said the general elections would not be held before 2007 and that PPP leader Asif Zardari was talking of premature polls only to “get advance payments” from the prospective candidates.

“This is a fund collection programme,” said the chief minister, advising the PPP supporters not to waste their money before the elections.

He said the PPP and the PML-N posed no threat to the ruling party even if they contested the next elections from the same platform. He said the two parties had cooperated with each other in the 2002 elections but had failed to defeat the PML. He claimed that with the passage of time the ruling party was growing in strength and it would win the next elections with bigger margins.

In his opinion the PPP and the PML-N would not be able to forge an alliance because of their ideological differences.

Asked whether it was possible for the ruling PML to join hands with the PPP of Ms Benazir Bhutto, the chief minister said his party would take a decision on the subject with an open mind “after the elections”. He recalled that his party had cooperated even with the MMA after the 2002 polls, a reference to the coalition formed by the two parties in Balochistan.

In response to a question, the chief minister said the government had provided security to Asif Zardari at the party’s request. But he made it clear that there was no restriction on his movement.

When it was pointed out sometimes the police were redeployed and then withdrawn which created confusion about the government’s policy, the chief minister said there was no question of withdrawal of the force. He said when the policemen on duty changed their shifts, some people gathered the impression as if the police had been withdrawn.

The chief minister said if the PPP did not want security for Zardari, it would have to make a fresh application for the purpose. He made it clear that if the police were withdrawn the party would be responsible for the security of the spouse of the former prime minister.

Responding to a question, the PML leader said Zardari’s presence in Lahore made no difference to the ruling party. He said the PPP was no longer the party of the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as it neither had any manifesto nor any principle. It was also without a popular support because of which the PML was not bothered which city Zardari chose to make the centre of his activities, he said.

Pervaiz Elahi said Zardari would soon find out how much support he had in Punjab.

About Zardari’s contacts with the establishment, the chief minister said they would not yield any results. According to him, the PPP had come to power twice through such gimmicks and it believed that the trick would work for a third time as well. But, he believed, there was consensus among the people and the establishment that the PPP was responsible for destroying the country.

The chief minister said if the party was still dreaming about returning to power, “there can be no bar on such dreams”.

Answering a question, the chief minister said the PML was making preparations for the local elections. District nazims who had given good performance would be retained for a second term, he said, adding that others who had failed to do anything for their respective districts would be replaced.