LAHORE, Dec 18: Legislators and district office-bearers of the People’s Party Parliamen-tarians from all over the Punjab on Wednesday analysed the reasons for party’s unsatisfactory performance in the general election and resolved to overcome all weaknesses before the next polls which they believed were not far away given the heterogeneity of the current setup.

At a nine-hour session in a marriage hall here, some of the participants alleged that in some places party office-bearers worked more in the interest of the establishment by awarding tickets to people who had never served the party.

Others held the leadership responsible for failing to take the party manifesto to the electorate. Some others alleged that party tickets were sold, regardless of the standing of recipients.

Held under the chairmanship of party’s provincial president Qasim Zia, the convention also decided to adopt a tough policy on defections, raise the matter in the assembly as well courts and get the turncoats unseated.

It was also decided that a protest campaign would be launched in the constituencies of those who had joined hands with the PML-Q after being elected on the PPP ticket. Schedule for the campaign would be worked out at conventions in various cities of the province.

Mr Zia directed the party supporters to boycott the turncoats socially while the PPP would try to eliminate them politically. Leaders who had been bestowed with ministries of defence and interior in return for their disloyalty had backstabbed the party and would not be spared, he said.

Referring to claims of the ‘turncoat’ ministers that they would bring back Benazir Bhutto to the country, Mr Zia said if they really enjoyed powers of their respective portfolios they should tell the military rulers that they would receive the PPP chairperson on so and so date.

He said similar conventions would be held in Vehari and Okara on Dec 29 and 30. The biggest convention would be held in Lahore on the birth anniversary of the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on Jan 5. Sahiwal would host the event on Jan 10.

PPP secretary-general Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said disciplinary action was being taken against the defectors, who would be required to appear before a disciplinary committee to explain their point of view. If they did not appear before the committee, action would be taken against them in absentia, Mr Pervaiz said.

Deputy secretary-general Shah Mahmood Qureshi alleged that the PPP dissidents who had joined hands with the Jamali-government, were propagating that Ms Bhutto was their leader under a well thought-out plan to create confusion among PPP supporters and fragment the party. He believed that most of the party legislators would not change their loyalties.

About the Jamali government, the former Multan Nazim said it was a fragile coalition which owed its existence to PPP dissidents. The day they withdrew their support, the coalition would collapse, he added.

He was appreciative of the critical views about party’s performance, saying criticism was imperative for reformation of the party.

Gujranwala’s Imtiaz Safdar Waraich dismissed allegations that the establishment had played any role in PPP leaders’ defeat in elections. Had it been so, he argued, leaders like Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Aitzaz Ahsan and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf would not have made it to the parliament.

Referring to those who were castigating the establishment for the defeat of various important party leaders, the MNA from Gujranwala said they were just trying to pass on the buck.

He said the party always claimed that it relied on the support of the downtrodden, the farmers and the have-nots for electoral victories, but it never held any meeting to address the problems of these classes.

Sialkot’s Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas resigned from the office of district president of the party, alleging that party leaders had joined hands with the intelligence agencies to have him defeated. He demanded formation of a committee to look into his allegation.

Gujrat’s Mushtaq Pagganwala made blistering attacks on the leadership for working against party interests. Party leaders, not Gen Pervaiz Musharraf, had worked against the PPP, he emphasized.

The district presidents, he said, had no role in the award of tickets and could not be held responsible for defections in their respective districts.

He dissolved the party’s organization in his district, warning that he would come up with a strong reaction in case the decision was reversed. He alleged that he had punished an organization that had failed to deliver.

Mr Pagganwala alleged that Ms Bhutto was being misinformed by leaders and that many of those who had interviewed candidates for tickets were ‘traitors’.

Khalid Ghurki protested against distribution of party tickets and said loyalty and commitment with the party had not been given importance. He said while some party legislators had joined hands with the government under pressure from the establishment, there were others who were forced to leave by party leaders.

Mr Ghurki demanded formation of a committee to probe why the PPP legislators had crossed over to the PML-Q.

He warned that if defectors were taken back, as had been done in the past, he would bid farewell to the party.

Gujrat’s Nawabzada Ghazanfar Gul said though the PPP was supposed to be an ideological party, it had been divided into the ruling and the suffering classes. He said Ms Bhutto did not need the help of defence and interior ministers to be able to come back to the country. “There is no threat to her life nor is she afraid of imprisonment.” Mr Gul, known for his witty remarks, said Ms Bhutto was delaying her return because she was not sure that party workers would come on roads in case she was arrested.

Critical of PPP’s electoral performance as well as strategy, the bearded leader said the party was yet to hold a meeting to take a decision for by-election on a Gujrat seat that had been vacated by the chief minister.

Prominent among others who spoke or attended the convention were Aitzaz Ahsan, Altaf Qureshi, Naveed Chaudhry, Mian Misbahur Rehman, Sheikh Rafiq, Lala Idrees, Ghulam Farid Kathia, Sajida Mir, Ms Shamim Niazi, Dr Javed Siddiqui, Noor Muhammad Bhabha, Qazi Sultan, Shahan Malik, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Chaudhry Manzoor, Mohammad Ayub, Sohail Malik and Farzana Raja.