In true desi fashion, the one who loses out is usually the best of what is generally a bad lot.
Almost all of Azhars original Hum Khyal group have lost (with the exception of Khurshid Kasuri) in the elections, the people who have won mostly should be locked away!
News analysis: Azhar once kingmakers’ best bet
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_28-12-2002_pg7_17
By Shahzad Raza
ISLAMABAD: When it came to choose a suitable person to lead the “king’s party” and diminish the influence of Mian Nawaz Sharif, the seasoned politician and former Punjab governor Mian Muhammad Azhar, being a malleable person and lacking political dynamism, was the best choice for kingmakers.
Against the award of Pakistan Muslim Leauge-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-QA) presidentship, his services were all for his ‘masters’. He remained blue-eyed until his interests started clashing with more influential Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and company.
Lacking political sagacity, Azhar remained isolated since his election.
He tried to strengthen his position by developing relations with some senior leaders but forgot to win the support of workers and now when he is on the verge of receiving a political setback, he stands almost alone.
The overall assessment of his tenure as party president would make the assessor to call him a ‘puppet’, who has outlived his contract. Right from the beginning, he had not realised his actual position but objected that Chaudhris were marginalizing him. Moreover, he had not tried to be in good books of the PML-QA architects.
For the same reason, the architects had decided to replace him with Ijazul Haq, who committed a blunder to let the opportunity go.
In intra-party polls in August 2002, Mian Azhar was the favourite of Chaudhris and was supported to defeat Mr Haq. Being mindful of Mr Haq’s previous misadventures, the PML-QA leadership and establishment were not ready to bank on him. Azhar’s success in the polls led to the creation of another PML faction, PML-Zia.
After losing in the October 10 elections, Azhar tried to win the sympathies of the party workers by tendering his resignation in the Central Working Committee meeting, held soon after the elections. But the decision for his removal, as senior party leaders said, had been taken as soon as October 16. The party leaders were only waiting for an appropriate moment.
“Those who lost in the general elections, have no right to lead the party and must step down from their respective offices,” said Saleem Saifullah Khan.
Azhar had realized his position after the general elections.
The only choice for him to stick to the party presidentship was for a ‘prosperous future’. The idea was not wrong but the way he tried to realise it did not go well with many party leaders.
His close aides played an important role in his expected loss of the party’s top slot.
We hear ya 