Yet another faction of League is to emerge from within the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q), following the controversial party election last month in which Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was re-elected unopposed as Party chief for next four years.
The elections were boycotted by the dissident group (Like-minded) led by Hamid Nasir Chatta, Senator Salim Saifullah Khan and Humayun Akhtar Khan and they later called a meeting of the party general council last week and formed an interim body led by Hamid Nasir Chatta as its chairman.
Sources from both the sides said that none of the factions is ready to accept the other and both have vowed to go ahead with their separate agendas. According to sources, the dissident group is all set to meet in Islamabad within a week and would propose a new name for the party.
Shujaat-led faction is of the opinion that it had held party elections in a democratic way and elected party President and its Secretary General and there is no question of holding new election at top level. Like-minded group countered the argument, saying the exercise was undemocratic and un-constitutional as no one could became party president for the third time.
The group said that the Chaudhries have no support of members of party general council, referring to their recent meeting at Humayun Akhtar's residence, where 1500 members of general council "turned down" the so-called "election drama".
The group said that they would soon hold party election in legal and democratic way to end occupation of the party by a single family from Gujrat. Humayun Akhtar Khan, who is secretary general of the dissident group, said that the party rejected Shujaat's election which could be witnessed by the strength of recent meeting. At the other hand, Shujaat group also responded in the same tone, saying that they would not go after them even at the cost of disintegration of the party.
A senior leader of Shujaat group said that party had held elections in a democratic way and there is no way to go back to square one. "If they have any support of the party general council they should have contested the elections", he added.
Commenting over the situation, former Information Minister Senator Mohammad Ali Durrani said that the party had already disintegrated and there is no immediate chance of unification of the two groups as both sides were sticking to their guns. He, however, said that he is not part of any group and efforts are underway to reunite the party.
Both sides have to retreat from their present position for unification of the groups, he suggested. To a question about former President Musharraf's role in the disintegration of the party, he said he has not in contact with the former President neither he has any knowledge about his role. Independent analysts opined that PML-Q was created by establishment and it was disintegrated by the same forces since the party has no charismatic leadership neither it has any roots among the masses.
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