Shujaat takes PML-Q reins once again

ISLAMABAD - Central General Council (CGC) of Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) here Monday elected Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Mushahid Hussain Sayed as party’s president and secretary general respectively, while party’s like-minded group boycotted the polls and, thus, fractured former ruling party into two factions.
Shujaat and Mushahid were elected unopposed in a heavily attended CGC meeting, as no other person submitted nomination papers against them with the party’s election commission. A large number of party lawmakers, district and tehsil nazims, office-bearers and workers from across the country participated in the election process and reposed confidence in Shujaat and Mushahid.
On the other hand, a number of dissident leaders including Hamid Nasir Chattha, Hamayon Akhtar Khan, Salim Saifullah, Humayon Saifullah, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, Sumera Malik, Muhammad Ali Durrani, Ejazul Haq, Maqbool Sheikh, Kashmala Tariq, Gohar Ayub Khan, Mir Zafarullah Jamali, Akram Zaki, Majid Malik and SM Zafar did not attend the CGC meeting. PML-Q Parliamentary Leader in the National Assembly Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat could also not attend the meeting due to his foreign visit.
The boycott of polls by PML-Q stalwarts has virtually split Q-League into two segments; one under the leadership of Ch Shujaat Hussain while the other led by Hamid Nasir Chattha. On the other hand, the dissidents have also challenged the legal status of party polls in the Election Commission of Pakistan. The next phase of ‘battle’ would be fought in the ECP where Chief Election Commissioner has summoned Ch Shujaat and Hamayon Akhtar on upcoming July 27.
Provincial presidents of the party Chaudhry Pervez Elahi (Punjab), Amir Muqam (NWFP), Ghous Bux Mehar (Sindh) and Jam Yousuf (Balochistan), Opposition Leader in the Senate Wasim Sajjad and Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Zaheerud Din were also present on the occasion.
According to party’s election commission, nomination papers of only two candidates, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain for the slot of president and Mushahid Hussain for the position of secretary general, were received by 10:00am on Monday. Following the scrutiny of nomination papers, party’s Chief Election Commissioner Kamil Ali Agha announced that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had been elected as the party President for the 3rd consecutive time while Mushahid Hussain Sayed had been elected as PML-Q Secretary General for the 2nd time.
The party’s 1500-member CGC comprising 705 from Punjab, 300 from Sindh, 275 from NWFP, 115 from Balochistan, 55 from Islamabad, 35 from FANA and 12 from FATA was attended by around 1,300 members. The participation of party senators and MNAs is necessary in CGC meeting, as they are the ex officio members of the council. As many as 36 MNAs out of total 54, and 16 senators out of total 21 participated in the meeting.
The MNAs who attended the meeting included, among others, Marvi Memon, Sheikh Waqas Akram, Pervaiz Elahi, Nousheen Saeed, Donia Aziz, Farzana Mushtaq, Ghous Bux Maher, Amir Muqam, Ahmadan Bugti, Riaz Pirzada, Rana Asif Touseef, Ch Asim Nazir, Akram Masih Gill, Ghias Ahmed Mela, Ch Wajahat Hussain, Anwar Ali Cheema, Sardar Talib Nakai, Diwan Ashiq Bokhari, Sardar Shahjahan Yusouf, Pir Aslam Bodlah, Malik Nauman Lengrayal, Shahnaz Sheikh, Bushra Rehman, Attya Inayatullah, Khawaja Shiraz Mehmood, Ayaz Shah Shirazi, Ghulam Hyder Samejo, Prince Nawaz Allai, Prince Mohyuddin, and Bahadur Ahmed Khan Sihar attended the elections.