Amid differences within opposition PML-Q over the top party post, former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has allegedly initiated efforts to split the group to create his own faction to stage a possible political comeback early next year.
The alleged move by Musharraf came as senior PML-Q leaders Salim Saifullah and Humayun Akhtar virtually declared a war against party President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and said that they would not allow him to get re-elected as party head for a third time.
Referring to Musharraf's "efforts" to form a new faction, a member of Hussain's family told PTI that the former military ruler had expressed his wish to head the party on his return to politics early next year.
Under existing laws, Musharraf cannot hold any post for two years after stepping down as army chief.
"Since Chaudhry Shujaat has made it clear to Musharraf that he has no place in the party, he has started carving out a group of supporters in the PML-Q to form his own faction," said Hussain's relative, who did not wish to be named.
He also accused Musharraf of providing PML-Q dissidents with huge financial aid for this purpose.
Meanwhile, Saifullah and Akhtar have said they have the support of all senior PML-Q leaders and will boycott the upcoming party elections.
"We will free the PML-Q from the clutches of the Chaudhrys of Gujrat," Saifullah said, referring to Hussain and his cousin, former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.
Saifullah vowed to ensure the election of a new party president from one of the smaller provinces of Pakistan.
The PML-Q ruled Pakistan for five years during 2002-07 under the patronage of Musharraf.
However, Hussain and Musharraf developed differences in 2007, particularly over the handling of the issue of Lal Masjid, which was stormed by the army on the former president's orders in July 2007 to flush out militants and religious hardliners holed up inside the mosque.
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