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PML mull future with Nawaz in jail

ISLAMABAD: With Nawaz Sharif in jail, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) seemed likely on Sunday to shelve calls to drop the former prime minister as leader until he appeals against life terms for hijacking and terrorism.

Leading members of the PML, including Sharif's wife, Kulsoom, met in Islamabad to map strategy in response to Thursday's verdict by a Karachi Anti-Terrorism court which gave Sharif two 25-year jail terms and removed him from the political scene.

The acting head of the PML, Raja Zafar-ul Haq, acknowledged that there were calls to jettison Sharif as the party tries to prepare itself for the eventual return of democracy, which Musharraf has pledged at an unspecified future date.

But Haq said a majority of party members wanted the leadership issue to wait until superior courts decide on an appeal against Sharif's sentences.

"There are some people who are demanding that after this decision and after this conviction of the party chief, we should have fresh elections in the party," Haq said.

"But we will be filing an appeal against the conviction and in a short period of time, that appeal will also be decided. So lets us wait for a few weeks more," he said.

"Let us stick together as the PML has always stuck together," he told reporters as the meeting started.

Haq, the PML's vice-president, is convenor of the coordination committee which has been running party affairs after Sharif was toppled and arrested in the coup.

NO SERIOUS DANGER

"I do not foresee a serious danger to the party... I believe that some people would certainly raise this (leadership) issue. We believe the majority would certainly say let us wait for some time for the appeal," Haq said.

Haq also dismissed newspaper reports that some members were unhappy with Sharif's wife, who has been canvassing for her husband's release - an attempt seen by her critics as a move to take over the leadership of the party.

Musharraf has said he will not work on a restoration of democracy with the "corrupt" leaders of the past.

Benazir Bhutto, Sharif's predecessor and head of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), lives abroad after a conviction last year for corruption.

Kulsoom declined to speak to reporters as the meeting began. She called for mass rallies after the verdict but public reaction has been muted.

Sharif's lawyers will appeal against his verdict next week, arguing that Sharif should be set free because of inadequate evidence and the fact that six co-accused were acquitted by Judge Rehman Hussain Jafri of the same charges.-Reuters