PML-Q cancels basic membership of Ch Parvez Elahi

Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) President Ch Shujaat Hussain has cancelled the party post and basic membership of former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi, reported 24NewsHD TV channel Tuesday.

A letter in this regard has been sent to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Ch Parvez Elahi was the Punjab President of the party.

Earlier, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had suspended the party membership of Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi.

The suspension order was issued by Ch Shujaat after chairing an emergent meeting of the party which was attended by the party’s secretary Tariq Bashir Cheema, PML-Q Senior Vice President Chaudhry Salik, and senior leader of the party Chaudhry Shafay Hussain.

PML-Q president Ch Shujaat sent a show-cause notice to PML-Q provincial party president Ch Parvez Elahi over his comments regarding the party’s possible merger with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The development comes days after Elahi said that consultations were underway on a possible merger of PML-Q into PTI. Elahi’s statements of wanting to merge the provincial party into the PTI were discussed during the meeting.

In the show cause notice, Hussain stated that such a step would be illegal and unconstitutional. “PML-Q, as a political party has a particular character, vote bank, party discipline, constitution and rules, which were violated in your late-night statements to the media,” the notice read.

Being the provincial chief of the party, Parvez Elahi has no legal authority to emerge the party with others. If you want to join another party, you have to leave the party membership, the notice added.

Subsequently, Elahi’s basic party membership had been suspended and was given seven days to explain the statements. “Failure to do which would attract action from the party.”

Last month, the infighting between Pakistan Muslim League-Q intensified as PML-Q-faction led by former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi removed President Shujaat Hussain and replaced him with Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain in a meeting that was dubbed illegal by the central party.    

During a so-called General Council meeting of the party, former federal minister Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain and former Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Parvez Elahi have been elected unopposed Central and Punjab President of the Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q).

While the General Secretary of PML (Q) registered in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Tariq Bashir Cheema and Federal Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain termed Wajahat Hussain and Parvez Elahi's election illegal and unconstitutional. PML-Q leaders Cheema and Salik also declared the general councils' meetings fake and so-called and clarified that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain is the President of the party as per the law.

On Jan 31, the Election Commission of Pakistan has declared that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain will remain as president of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid. Pronouncing its reserved verdict, the ECP rejected the PML-Q Central Working Committee’s decision to remove Shujaat Hussain from party presidency.

Accepting Shujaat Hussain’s plea against his removal, the ECP also declared the PML-Q intra-party elections as illegal.

A five-member bench of the ECP, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, had heard the petition.

The electoral watchdog had reserved its decision on August 18 last year after Shujaat Hussain approached it when Parvez Elahi’s group had decided to remove Shujaat Hussain and General Secretary Tariq Bashir Cheema from the party’s top slots.

Former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi had been responsible for orchestrating Shujaat’s ouster from his position as party leader. Further, Parvez was elected unopposed as PML-Q Punjab president at that time.