Afgan remarks create ruckus in 'Q' meeting

ISLAMABAD - An uproar marred the Central Working Committee (CWC)s meeting of the PML-Q when former law minister Sher Afgan Khan Niazi Wednesday was barred from criticising the partys role in recent past and urging partymen to support the Government instead of the judiciary over the judges appointment issue.
Source in the party said that Dr Niazi was of the view that Pervez Musharraf had formed the party and he was the actual boss of it. He also criticised the judiciary and asked the party to support the incumbent Government against judiciary.
The sources said that later on the directives of the party leadership, Deputy Secretary Information of PML-Q, Mustafa Malik asked Niazi to stop the speech against the judiciary and the party policies after that former law minister left the meeting.
Some of the party leaders also criticised the party policy for supporting Sheikh Rashid Ahmad in by-elections of NA-55. They were of the view that the elections result of Mansehra were quite satisfactory and the PML-Q should have nominated its own candidate for the NA-55 by-polls, sources said.
Later during a press conference, the PML-Q asked the Government to withdraw the controversial notifications regarding the judges appointment and get rid of the row.
PML-Q President, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, flanked by Secretary General, Mushahid Hussain Syed, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Amir Muqam and others, told the journalists that his party had decided to keep building its pressure over the Government for supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law.
Criticising PML-N leadership, Chaudhry Shujaat said that PML-N leader, Nawaz Sharif kept changing his stance with each passing day on the national and political issues. He said that his party believed in freedom of the judiciary and would stand by the justice.
We think that appointment of the judges in the superior courts should not be made an issue. This issue was raised only to divert the attention of the nation from the real issues, adding that which was suffering due to price-hike, sugar crisis, surging petrol prices, raise in electricity and gas tariff, Mushahid Hussain Sayed told the media.
He urged the Government not to lock horns with the judiciary and learn lessons from the history. Rather, he added, the Government should focus on issues of the general public. Coming hard over the Governments mismanagement, Mushahid said that the rulers had some manufacturing fault due to which the Government met with crisis on daily basis which was harming the national and public interests.
Briefing the media about the PML-Q leaders meeting with former assistant secretary of state of the US, Richard Armitage and former national security advisor, Sandy Burger, he said that the visiting US dignitaries were told that the US had been rapidly becoming unpopular in Pakistan due to its double standards vis-a-vis Pakistan.
We asked the US to use its influence over India and ask it to resolve all outstanding issues with Pakistan including Kashmir and water conflicts. Moreover, we also raised the involvement of Indian agents in Balochistan, he added. Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi urged the US leaders not to involve into the internal affairs of Pakistan. We advised the US to shun its favouritism in Pakistani politics. They should not be involved in making or breaking the governments in Pakistan, he added.