Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was formally elected President of the Pakistan Muslim League on Wednesday, as all the five League groups and Sindh Democratic Alliance got united.
He was unanimously authorised to nominate candidates for rest of the party slots that would be presented before the next council meeting for approval.
PML (Functional) finally dissolved its party structure after they got assurance that their demand for the slots of the chief organiser, vice-president and secretary general would be given due consideration.
However, senior party member and veteran politician Kanwar Qutubuddin told Business Recorder that they agreed only after the announcement that it was unification and not merger.
"Any decision on the party posts will be acceptable, provided it comes from the arbitrator, I mean the President," he said in response to a question.
The general council meeting started three hours late, as Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan chief ministers and other senior party members held talks with PML (F). The council formally gave approval to Chaudhry Shujaat being the party chief.
Federal and State ministers and Prime Minister's advisers were also seen while Rao Sikandar Iqbal and Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao briefly witnessed the activity.
There was total chaos most of the time during the proceedings, attended by hundreds of party men and women, at the cricket ground, adjacent to the PML Central Secretariat.
Long queues of vehicles, parked on both sides of the road made movement of traffic difficult. The security personnel pushed the people back, when Prime Minister Jamali and Chaudhry Shujaat came to the venue at 1 p.m., triggering exchange of hot words and scuffles between the security men and League activists.
Ejazul Haq proposed the name of Chaudhry Shujaat for the slot of president, which was supported by Hamid Nasir Chattha, Manzoor Wattoo, Imtiaz Sheikh and Sultan Mehmood.
Premier Jamali announced from the stage that Chaudhry Shujaat had been elected (united) PML President unopposed and all the League factions and Sindh Democratic Alliance's office-bearers ceased to exist.
"I feel proud to be elected united PML chief. Indeed, it is an honour for me. The roots of the League will spread to every nook and corner of the country," Shujaat said.
On the very outset, he announced all-out support to President General Pervez Musharraf's policies on economic turnaround, the country's image building and his efforts for strengthening democracy.
Indirectly expressing his concern over the foreign policy, he said that the League was striving for a policy, which should reflect the masses' sentiments, feelings and aspirations.
PML leader emphasised that the government foreign policy must have principled stand on all the regional and international issues, reiterating support to the just cause of Kashmiris and Palestinians.
Shujaat said, "we expect the 2004-05 budget to be poor-friendly, envisaging a comprehensive strategy on how to control continuous increase in prices of daily-use items and petroleum products."
He called for stability in the charges of utility bills, enabling the common man to purchase essential commodities.
The PML leader cautioned against negative propaganda against President Musharraf's policies aimed at strengthening the system.
Shujaat made it clear that according to the Constitution, the President was very much part of the Parliament.
He welcomed the National Alliance's decision to merge with the League and added that his party would continue good relations with other partners in the ruling coalition.
Comments
Comments are closed.