LAHORE, May 16: The MMA does not see any interim setup in near future in the wake of reports of upheaval in the ruling party. “There is no possibility of an interim setup because an elected parliament was in place,” deputy secretary-general Liaqat Baloch said here on Monday.

The basic law required holding of elections within 90 days in case assemblies were dissolved and this condition did not suit the rulers to get ‘desired’ results, he said.

A similar attempt had also been under consideration when former president Farooq Leghari had dissolved the parliament in 1996 but he did not send the reference when constitutional experts advised him against this course, he recalled.

About reports of split in the PML ranks, Mr Baloch blamed the establishment for it. “The Chaudhrys had sent the establishment on the back foot on (Asif) Zardari issue and now it is taking revenge from them by raising internal rifts,” he claimed, citing his interaction with various PML leaders and others.

However, he said most of the PML leaders wanted to claim a larger share in the local body polls by expressing their differences with the central leadership.

“Leghari wants to see his men at the helms of affairs in Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur districts, Humayun Akhtar wishes to rule Lahore through his younger brother, Hamid Nasir Chattha is seeking Gujranwala for his son, while Rao Sikandar Iqbal and Manzoor Wattoo are demanding Okara district,” he said quoting senior PML leaders.

About reconciliation talks between representatives of Gen Musharraf and the PPP, the MMA leader said the establishment wanted to engage the PPP just to accomplish its political agenda but neither the PML nor the PPP-Patriots was ready to sit with the party led by Benazir Bhutto.

He claimed that the only priority of the PPP was to get cases against Ms Bhutto and her spouse quashed.

“They are not learning any lesson from the past and are looking for ways to strike some deal even though it may damage constitution and parliament.”