ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Monday decided to lobby with political parties, including the PML-Q, MQM and PPP-Sherpao, to foil the passage of the reformed general sales tax bill by the National Assembly.
The central organising committee of the PML-N which met with Nawaz Sharif in the chair also decided to complete intra-party elections from local to central level before January 15, 2011.
Addressing the central organising committee members, Nawaz regretted that President Asif Ali Zardari had responded to his letter but failed to implement suggestions given by the PML-N despite the lapse of one month. Sources said the GST, WikiLeaks revelations and party reorganisation were mainly on the agenda.
“A majority of the party’s mainstream leaders expressed disappointment with the government, advising the party chief to end the impression of friendly opposition,” said the source.
A PML-N source said that some of the participants expressed serious reservations over Army chief Pervez Kayani’s purported remarks about Nawaz, which were revealed through diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.
According to the sources, some of PML-N central leaders believed that the reported remarks of General Kayani about the Sharif brothers were “old” and “things have changed in the past few months following several meetings between Shahbaz and Kayani”.
“They said the ISPR’s recent statement that Kayani held all political leaders, including Nawaz, in high esteem was a reflection of army chief’s present mindset,” the sources added.
They said it was decided unanimously in the party’s crucial meeting that the PML-N would seek a debate on WikiLeaks in the upcoming National Assembly session, asking President Zardari, Prime Minister Gilani and others to clarify their position regarding remarks attributed to them in the leaked diplomatic memos.
The PML-N leaders were satisfied that most diplomatic cables portrayed the PML-N positively.
