LAHORE, Dec 12: The PML-Q internal crisis worsened on Thursday with Mian Azhar declaring that he would call a ‘constitutional’ meeting of the party’s general council ahead of the ‘unconstitutional’ one convened by his rivals for Dec 20.
He made the announcement while talking to reporters. However, he set no date. Presumably, the purpose of the meeting is to show his strength in the general council.
He did not share Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi’s optimism that the differences would be resolved in an amicable manner. “What the chief minister had said was only an attempt to mark time, to make me complacent.”
Mian Azhar has been advised by his friends and colleagues to take the issue of no-confidence motion against him to masses as the public is ‘very sympathetic’ to him. In the light of the advice, he is also thinking of presenting his case to the people’s court.
Sources close to the Punjab chief minister also see no chance of any settlement between the two sides, although possibility of a meeting between them is not being ruled out.
The chief minister and Punjab PML-Q president Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had said on Wednesday that he was willing to meet Mian Azhar once again and that he was optimistic that differences would be settled amicably.
“We don’t think the party faces any crisis because of the no-trust motion against Mian Azhar. It is in party’s interest that the leaders who have failed to deliver should sit back at home,” an aide to the chief minister said while talking to Dawn.
He said the party had made a very serious mistake by electing a man like Mian Azhar as its president in the very first place.
He has no following in the party and no contacts in other provinces, he said of Mian Azhar, adding that a new president would be elected on Dec 20.
Some party sources say that after resigning as secretary-general, Prime Minister Jamali had “proposed” that Salim Saifullah Khan should be nominated as his successor till the election of a new secretary-general. It is said that the PML-Q president did not give his reaction for some days after which the prime minister took the decision on his own.
Sources say that Mian Azhar wanted to appoint Col Sarwar Cheema (retired) or Gohar Ayub as his secretary-general.
Meanwhile, provincial information secretary Kamil Ali Agha said in a statement on Thursday that Mian Azhar must participate in the Dec 20 general council meeting to be able to fathom his support there.
He said Mian Azhar was not fit for the chairmanship of the ruling party, although he had been dreaming of becoming prime minister till his defeat in the elections.
Mr Agha held Mian Azhar responsible for the party’s defeat on the Lahore seats, saying it was the PML-Q chief who had given tickets to people of his liking.