Arbab family may part ways with PPP

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Central Deputy Information Secretary Asma Alamgir has resigned from her position, saying the party leadership didn’t give due attention to the party and its members in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

However, sources told The News that the Arbab family had developed serious differences with the party top leadership and was likely to part ways with PPP in the near future if its concerns were not addressed.

Also, according to sources, a number of political parties had approached the Arbab family members in Peshawar and invited them to join them. “If the Arbab family decides to quit PPP, it is most likely to join Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz as PML-N senior leadership has been in contact with it for some time,” a source close to the Arbab family told The News. Pleading anonymity, he said the Arbab family was not satisfied with the PPP central senior leadership and felt that it had been sidelined.

A senior PPP leader told The News that both Dr Arbab Alamgir and his wife Asma Alamgir were invited to the workers convention but they didn’t turn up.

When reached, former federal minister and senior PPP leader, Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan, told The News that Asma Alamgir had surrendered her party position as central deputy secretary information but they didn’t quit the party. “She had just resigned from her position and we are still in PPP.

There were certain valid reasons for her resignation and major reason was failure of central leadership to give attention to party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he explained. Asma Alamgir is the wife of Dr Alamgir Khan.

Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan is the son of late veteran politician and former chief minister late Arbab Jahangir Khan. Arbab Alamgir said they had waited for a long time, hoping that the central leadership will give importance to the party and its members in KP but it didn’t happen. “It needs constant efforts to organise the party and remain in contact with party workers. We did whatever we could but it seems central leadership is not interested in KP,” he felt. He confirmed that almost all the political parties had contacted them and invited them but they didn’t make any decision so far. “Almost all of them have contacted us. PMLN has also approached us and wanted to visit us on Saturday but I stopped them as the party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was in Peshawar,” Dr Alamgir Khan said. He said a senior PMLN leader Captain (R) Safdar Awan had again approached him on Saturday and insisted to come on Sunday and conveyed a special message of former prime minister and PMLN chief Mohammad Nawaz Sharif. “You cannot stop a guest who wants to meet you. I said most welcome when he told me he was carrying a special message of Nawaz Sharif for me,” he argued.

Arbab said he told Captain Safdar that they will not discuss politics in the meeting and he had agreed with him. “Besides PMLN, JUIF, Pervez Khattak-led PTI-P and other parties also want to meet us but I have not agreed so far,” he added.

Dr Arbab Alamgir didn’t specifically mention the reasons for disagreement with the PPP. The Arbab family had remained part of almost all the major political parties in the past. Efforts were made to seek comments of PPP but no leader was willing to speak. However, a senior PPP leader in KP, on condition of anonymity, told The News that it was Dr Arbab Alamgir and his wife Asma Alamgir the PPP had facilitated and obliged in KP during its tenure,

“Dr Arbab Alamgir was made a federal minister and given the ministry of his choice. Besides, he was also a minister in PPP government and they enjoyed their portfolios better than anyone else,” the PPP leader opined. He said most of the old party people in KP suffered as the party didn’t give importance to them but the couple from the Arbab family were happy when the PPP was in power.