LAHORE - The PML-N leadership is reluctant to hold meeting of the Central Working Committee (CWC) despite a strong voice within the party for working out a common strategy at the party level on the PTI protest drive against the prime minister and his government.
A faction within the party is perturbed over the long drawn and expanding protest show of the PTI and wants the party leadership to call the party CWC meeting to elicit views of the party top rankers so that the protest could be quelled through peace and lawful means.
On contact, the party sources affirmed that at the level of party legislators and the workers a serious anxiety exists on the wide spreading protest meetings and the Islamabad dharna of the PTI which is continuing over the last one and a half months and has no end in sight despite EC report on fair and transparent election and the High Court observation on dharnas.
“They want the leadership to convene CWC to take cross section views and frame a line of action to deal with a political move through political means,” sources said. They further said that no CWC meeting was being convened by the party in near future. Quoting a reported statement of the minister, they said CWC meeting was not being held in order to keep the government and official decisions uninfluenced by the party decisions. The PML-N CWC, with up to 40-member strength from all over the country, had last met before the elections and since then violation of the party rules was being made which required holding of its meeting after every three months.
The CWC is competent to consider and pass resolutions and take action on any matter relevant to the objectives of the party enshrined in the manifesto for the purpose of better serving the people while in rule. When asked from the political experts on importance of holding the CWC meeting and how it could override and influence the official decisions, they negated the impression and pointed out that the government was running its affairs within the framework of the party manifesto. They said party manifesto could guide the government on all issues including public welfare.
“And the CWC is the venue at the party level which sees whether party manifesto is being implemented accordingly or any deviation is there,” they said. The prime minister is also president of the PML-N but he does not give up the political office on the consideration it conflicts with his constitution office. “Despite strong aspiration of the party men, avoiding to call the CWC meeting strikes negative impression about party top rankers that they were deliberately not calling the meeting as they don’t want to share views on important issues with others or had do not any regard other member as equal.”
They said presently a strong public perception about the PML-N existed that after election its all affairs were being run by a handful of party toppers while the rest had been made nothing. The party parliamentarians in their private meeting also grouse of their loneliness in the party. At the moment when the party is up against a serious situation brewing out of the PTI protests and public rallies calling for the mid-term polls have begun to come out even by the parties which had supported the government on the floor of the House, a forceful voice and a concerted line of action through the CWC can well serve the purpose to stabilize the situation, they add.