Nawaz admits PML-N needs to get own house in order before trying to topple PPP govt.

LAHORE - Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif has told a member of the party’s Central Working Committee that they should first settle all outstanding matters before straying into new adventures, according to sources.

Sharif made these remarks in the CWC meeting in Islamabad to chalk out the party’s future strategy, the Daily Times reported.

An MNA from Lahore, who was present in the meeting, confided on the condition of anonymity that the PML-N chief’s reply was actually against a consistent demand raised by almost two-thirds of the CWC members for giving a decisive jolt to the present Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government by calling the masses to take to the streets.

The MNA said that at one point during the meeting, it appeared that the party was almost ready to give a ‘go ahead signal’ to the public for mass agitation. However, Sharif dashed the hopes of many in the CWC by saying that the party needed to be more organised before moving for any agitation, and needed to first settle old matters that are creeping up because of Pervez Musharraf’s jump into politics, who is targeting the top PML-N leadership after launching his All-Pakistan Muslim League.

The sources revealed that the PML-N cadres were getting equally frustrated because of Musharraf’s outburst against their party chief, saying “There exists almost a consensus in the party that Musharraf is hitting the party where it hurts the most and this was a result of the party’s inaction in bringing the man (Musharraf) to justice by registering a case in Punjab.”

Following the PML-N chief’s astute ‘no’ to the party hawks seeking to bring down the PPP government through agitation in and outside parliament, many old-guards of the party have been asked to determine who the number one enemy of the party is: the PPP or Pervez Musharraf, the sources said.

They said that a number of PML-N MNAs from Punjab believed that Musharraf was spared by the party leadership due to the Punjab CM’s ‘hobnobbing with the establishment’ thanks to Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who still holds an important position in the party.

According to sources, Sharif’s aides believe that the PPP, if forced to go into mid-term elections, would benefit more than the PML-N since it had issues to champion, including the one where PML-N has done no work holding the federation intact, having successfully managed the military operations in Swat and South Waziristan, and having offered an agenda to work on the pertaining situation in Balochistan province. (ANI)