LAHORE, June 22: Except for Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, no PML-Q parliamentarian took oath as member of the cabinet of newly-elected Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Friday, ignoring the desire of President Asif Ali Zardari.

“The PML-Q leadership presented a list of demands to President Zardari and sought his assurance before allowing its other parliamentarians to take oath,” a source privy to the development told Dawn.

“The president insisted that PML-Q’s designated ministers should take oath along with Mr Ashraf, but the party’s leadership wanted him to first listen to their demands in the presence of the new prime minister.”

The source said the PML-Q leadership had developed differences also with former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for not releasing funds to its parliamentarians. This time it wanted an assurance that Mr Ashraf would not follow his predecessor in this regard.

“Yes we have presented a list of demands to President Zardari asking him to ensure that PML-Q ministers in the cabinet should be fully empowered. There should be no hiccup in the release of funds to the party’s MNAs and MPAs. Besides, Mr Ashraf should also help them in resolving their problems in government departments,” a senior PML-Q leader told Dawn.

He said the Q-League did not demand more ministries. When asked about Chaudhry Pervaiz taking oath as senior minister, he said the PML-Q did not want to create an impression of a boycott.