ISLAMABAD, Aug 28: The Central Working Committee (CWC) of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Monday directed all its members of parliament to submit their resignations to party chairman Raja Zafarul Haq so that these could be used at the beginning of a “decisive and final anti-government movement”.
The CWC members, who met here with Mr Haq in the chair, were unanimous that the time had come for the opposition members to resign from assemblies so that people could be mobilised against the military regime in an effective manner.
Talking to Dawn after the meeting, PML-N secretary-general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said the party members believed that it was proper time to submit the resignations and added that the party chief Nawaz Sharif had endorsed the CWC’s decision.
Mr Jhagra said the CWC’s decision had been conveyed to other opposition parties. He said he had already talked to Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal president Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan and informed them about the decision.
He said the issue would be discussed at the All Parties Conference being convened by the ARD in Islamabad on Aug 31 on the situation arising out of the killing of Jamhoori Watan Party chief Nawab Akbar Bugti.
He said the party was concerned about the health of nuclear scientist Dr A.Q. Khan.
PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal said his party held Gen Pervez Musharraf responsible for Nawab Akbar Bugti’s death as he had used a threatening language against the late Baloch leader recently.
Mr Iqbal said the PML-N considered Mr Bugti’s killing an attack on the federation. He condemned the government for killing politicians after declaring them traitors. He said it was the CWC’s view that the killing of Akbar Bugti and his followers had pushed the country into a serious crisis.
Those who attended the meeting included Khwaja Mohammad Asif and Khwaja Saad Rafiq, joint secretary Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal, Senator Sadia Abbasi, Ghulam Dastagir Khan, Pir Sabir Shah, Sardar Yaqoob Khan Nasir and Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa.