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A jolt to PML (Q)

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: It is the season for the discontented in the beleagured ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) to assert themselves and get a hearing.

Already jittery over a mounting political crisis triggered by President Pervez Musharraf's move to oust the Chief Justice, the PML (Q) received another shock when the former Prime Minister, Mir Zafrullah Khan Jamali, handed in his resignation from the party.

Mr. Jamali, who Gen. Musharraf abruptly removed as Prime Minister in 2005, was simmering these past two years at being progressively sidelined by the party leadership. On Monday, he presented his resignation to party president Chaudhary Shujat Hussain at the party central executive committee meeting.

He also made a speech about the "mishandling" of the Chief Justice issue by the Government. But the resignation letter, according to insiders, was a list of personal grievances.

Resignation under review

The party executive committee met again on Tuesday to discuss the resignation among other issues. And if past pattern is an indicator, it may be successful in persuading him to take it back.

Earlier in the day, Gen. Musharraf invited Mr. Jamali for a meeting where the latter presented a long list of complaints about being ignored by the PML (Q) leadership. He is also said to be unhappy about the party's approaches to a political rival in Balochistan.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is also said to be reviewing the resignation by Tourism Minister Niolfar Bakhtiar.

She has said she took the step as she felt abandoned by her party when religious extremists attacked her for a hug from a paragliding instructor who helped her during a charity jump in France.

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