LAHORE, June 12: The PML-QA on Wednesday launched a consultative process to identify suitable candidates for assembly seats in the Punjab capital with the resolve to sweep all seats in what was once the stronghold of the Sharifs.

The participants, at a meeting at the residence of Chaudhry Shujaat Husain, said that the party had lost some seats in the local elections because of the adjustments made with the other parties. For the general elections, they said, the strategy would be framed keeping in mind the lessons learnt from the local elections.

Mian Azhar presided over the meeting which was addressed by Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and others.

There are indications that those elected in the 1997 elections would be retained as candidates in the October elections, although seats of some of them would be changed because of the new delimitations.

Mian Azhar said victory in Lahore would mean victory in the Punjab and the success in the country’s biggest province would mean the party’s triumph at the national level.

He assured the workers that unlike the past when the party was headed by Mr Sharif, they would be given due importance in decision making and no step would be taken against their consent. Though, he said, the Sharifs had been claiming themselves “Made in Pakistan”, they struck a deal with the government in the first available opportunity and took flight to Saudi Arabia.

Now settled in palaces, he said, the Sharifs were again getting restless to return to power.

Mian Azhar said had the Sharifs been serious in leading their party, they would have preferred to stay in prison in their own country rather than seeking refuge in a foreign country.

He said the party would soon set a date for a public meeting in Lahore which would mark the advent of its election campaign.

He said he was aware of the importance of the minority votes after the restoration of the system of joint electorate. The minority wing of the party would be activated.

Criticizing the somersaults of the Sharifs according to the changing circumstances, Mian Azhar said there was a time when the former rulers held the PPP and its leaders responsible for the dismemberment of the country. He recalled that Mr Asif Ali Zardari was in prison because of the cases instituted by the PML government. But, he said, it was regrettable that the same Sharifs then formed an alliance with the PPP.

Punjab PML-QA President Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said the party had almost half a dozen candidates available for every seat in the Punjab. He said there was no dearth of candidates but the party would select them on merit.