Pakistan Muslim League-Zia chief Ijaz-ul-Haq decided on Tuesday that he was joining Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), DawnNews reported. Ijaz, son of former military dictator Zia-ul-Haq, said that he would formally announce his decision in a few days after meeting with PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif. He said that he took this decision because he wanted alliance of the Muslim League. Adding that, he said that he was always part of the Muslim League and will always be. Ijaz remained federal minister for Labour, Manpower and overseas Pakistanis from 1997- 1999 in Nawaz Sharif’s government.
He stepped down from the post following differences with Sharif, who was overthrown shortly afterwards by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999. Forming his own PML splinter faction, Zia-ul-Haq, Ijaz was elected to the National Assembly for a record fourth time in the 2002 general election. Initially allying himself with Musharraf’s PML-Q party, he was appointed federal minister for religious affairs. He lost for the first time in the 2008 general election, and resigned from the PML-Q in February 2010. His revived PML-Zia upset the Pakistan People’s Party in Bahawalnagar for Member of the Provincial Assembly in March 2010.