ISLAMABAD, June 16: Ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Thursday rejected speculations about the change of prime minister or the president of the party. Speaking at a news conference at the party headquarters, Mr Hussain said he believed in taking action against any high-level party member responsible for violating the PML discipline, instead of curbing the protest of party workers against party policies.
Asked about speculations relating to change of government soon after the budget is passed, as happened in Zafarullah Khan Jamali’s case last year, he said: “I had issued a statement before going abroad, in which I had categorically denied any such possibility.”
In a statement before leaving for Germany, Mr Hussain had said that Shaukat Aziz would remain prime minister until 2007. Answering a question with reference to his interview in a newspaper, which quoted him as saying that the PML chief had decided to remove a federal minister from the party membership for anti-party statements, Mr Hussain rebutted the report.
The PML chief said he had only suggested that any high-level party member, who violated the party discipline, should be hold responsible for his action.
The PML president clarified what he termed an ambiguity about the party candidate in the by-elections on PF-66, D.I.Khan, going to be held on Saturday (June 18).
He said a wrong impression had been given that Ikramullah Khan, son of late Inayatullah Gandapur, was running as a party candidate while the party had nominated Sanaullah Khan Miankhel as official candidate on the said seat.
He appealed to the NWFP chief minister to take necessary steps to ensure fair, free and transparent elections in the constituency. He said that in the light of the changed atmosphere, the party would win the D.I.Khan seat.
He said the federal government did not interfere in terms of pumping extra development funds in the constituency since they intended to keep the by-polls fair and free.
He expressed the hope that the MMA government in NWFP would accept whatever result came out and would not indulge in manipulation of the by-polls.
Mr Hussain said there were reports of massive development funds to have pumped by the Frontier government to manipulate the by-polls.
Party secretary-general Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, Minister of State for Overseas Pakistanis Senator Tariq Azeem, Minister of State for Water and Power and PML NWFP president Amir Muqam, party’s chief coordinator Nisar Muhammad Khan alias Lala and others were present on the occasion.