ISLAMABAD Oct 1: The Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) has decided not to approach, for the time being, the election commission with the request for removal of affixes from all the five factions of PML which had announced their unification on Sept 17 last.
The advisory committee on implementation of unification of five factions of PML had recommended to the PML-Q president that the election commission should be requested that all affixes of PML factions be removed.
Inside party sources have revealed to Dawn that the party Central Working Committee (CWC) which met on Monday had in fact given a mandate to the party president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to negotiate with the leaders of other four factions the terms and conditions for their merger with the PML-Q.
They may be offered high offices in the unified party or lucrative government positions the sources said, adding that in case a deal is struck and all other factions are merged in the PML-Q the unified League would be called simply Pakistan Muslim League without any affixes.
Until this happens the source claimed the election commission may not be approached.
The PML-Q CWC had also unanimously decided that all the PML-Q organizations/bodies will remain intact and that Chaud-hry Shujaat may nominate more office-bearers, members of CWC and general council proportionately from other fac-tions.
Salim Saifullah Khan PML-Q secretary general who was asked to meet chief election commissioner on Tuesday (Sept 30) instead left here for Lahore to meet party president to seek fresh instructions.
Before leaving for Lahore, Mr Saifullah told Dawn that a proposal was considered at the higher level that the formal request should be made to the election commission when all the faction leaders have sent in their consent.
At the party CWC, it was decided that Chaudhry Shujaat should meet the other factions leaders (at Pagaro’s residence) in Karachi on Wednesday and seek their point of view on all these matters.
Meanwhile, reports that fresh contacts may be established between the army and the PPP Parliamentarians after its chairperson’s renewed desire to enter into a direct deal with Gen Musharraf have sent most of the PML-Q members scurrying to their respective handlers to find out if there is any truth in these reports.
Political observers were of the strong opinion that the power brokers may come under pressure to make a deal with Benazir Bhutto’s party to meet the demands of the West which does not like the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) for obvious reasons.
A source in the PML who did not want to be named said that efforts were going on to divide the Pakistan Muslim League in two factions one of which will be allied with the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians which then will be joined by the Patriots as well as other splinter groups of the PPP.