Is PML-Likeminded past its shelf life?

After living its brief shelf life of around two years, the Pakistan Muslim League-Likeminded is fast forwarding towards its logical disintegration as some of its leaders have decided to join the Sharifs, while others are weighing options for their switch over to Tehreek-e-Insaaf of Imran Khan and the rest are still attached with former military dictator Pervez Musharraf. The PML-Likeminded, formally launched on August 20, 2009 when some leaders from the PML-Q staged mutiny against the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, not only failed to muster considerable support from the PML-Q’s sitting and former parliamentarians but also could not devise clear cut future political strategy.
Some PML-Likeminded leaders, including Salim Saifullah, Humayun Akhtar Khan and Kashmala Tariq made hectic efforts in the last two years to sneak into the PML-N ranks, while its chairman Hamid Nasir Chattha and Khurshid Ahmed Kasuri first remained associated with their former boss Pervez Musharraf and now have set their eyes on Imran Khan’ PTI.
Though Chattha and Kasuri betrayed Musharraf, for fears of political backlash in Pakistan, and did not join former dictator’s hands at the eve of launching of Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) in October 2010. But in the same year, they advocated for Musharraf when they supported the inclusion of the APML in Muttahida Muslim League, the four-party alliance of the PML-Likeminded, the PML-F, the Awami Muslim League and the PML-Zia, but their voice in support of Musharraf was suppressed by strong opposition from Sheikh Rashid and Ijazul Haq.
As the efforts for unification of Muslim League factions from the platform of Muttahida Muslim League ended in a fiasco and even former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali’s Raiwand visit failed to ease the arrogance of the Sharifs, pro-PML-N leaders from the PML-Likeminded like Humayun Akhtar Khan and Kashmala Tariq geared up their individual efforts for rapprochement between the PML-N and the PML-Likeminded.
Now when the efforts of pro-PML-N leaders of the PML-Likeminded have brought fruits, fissures have started appearing in the PML-Likeminded over a possible alliance with the PML-N for the next general election. In party’s recently held steering committee meeting, Hamid Nasir Chattha and some other leaders expressed serious reservations over the party’s proximity with the Sharifs, while PML-Likeminded President Senator Salim Saifullah and Secretary General Humayun Akhtar supported the idea of forging an alliance with the PML-N.
“The proposal of forming an alliance with the PML-N by Salim Saifullah, Humayun Akhtar and Kashmala Tariq became a bone of contention when senior members, including Chattha and Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri, rejected the proposal,” a PML-Likeminded leader said. He said former Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim and Senator Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi were still supporting Musharraf and were against going the PML-N or the PTI way.
On July 20 this year, Senator Salim Saifullah Khan had announced the schedule of party general elections for 2011, according to which, district wise elections had to be completed by July 30, provincial elections by September 15, and central party elections were supposed to be completed till by September 30. A source in the PML-Likeminded told Pakistan Today that apart from lukewarm response from two provinces, Sindh and Balochistan, where the party had nominal presence, the ice-melting between the PML-N and the PML-Likeminded was the key factor which caused postponement of intra-party polls. A PML-Likeminded leader said the party would continue working with same team of chairman (Hamid Nasir Chattha), president (Salim Saifullah), secretary general (Humayun Akhtar Khan), information secretary (Kashmala Tariq) and chairman of party’s steering committee (Khurshid Kasuri) which was elected on August 20, 2009 at the time of party’s birth.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Saifullah said Chattha was opposing PML-Likeminded’s alliance with the PML-N.
“We have decided to first strengthen the party in the country and then go for forging an alliance with other political parties including the PML-N,” he said.
Saifullah said the “egos” of some politicians from other political parties were damaging the interests of the country.
Asked to comment over the delay in holding intra-party polls, Saifullah said some leaders of the party were suggesting a delay in the polls. “I want early elections as I personally want to hand over the presidency to someone else in the party,” he said.