LAHORE: The general council of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) on Thursday removed former prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain as the party chief, amid emerging differences within its ranks.
His brother, Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain, who along with his cousin and former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is allied with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) of Imran Khan, was chosen as the new party president, while Kamil Ali Agha was selected as the central secretary-general.
The event comes days after Shujaat, then president of PML-Q, suspended the basic membership of Elahi, in response to the latter’s statement about a possible merger with the opposition PTI.
A show-cause notice served to Elahi mentioned that the PML-Q president called an urgent meeting of the senior leaders, where it was noted that the provincial president did not have the authority to merge the party with PTI.
The statement went on to say that PML-Q, as a political party, maintains its individual identity, vote bank, party discipline, and rules and regulations which Elahi violated through his statements.
The notice demanded an explanation from Elahi within seven days, otherwise, action would be taken against him under the party constitution’s Article 16 and Article 50.
The decision to issue a show-cause notice to Elahi was made during a high-level party meeting that included Tariq Bashir Cheema, the then secretary-general, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, the senior vice president, and Chaudhry Shafay Hussain, a senior leader.
