Zardari finds no takers of his statement

ISLAMABAD: Regardless of the number of political parties that attended the Iftar-dinner hosted by former President and co-Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari, none of his political guests publicly endorsed his diatribe against the Pakistan Army.
Rather everyone was careful and cautious in his approach and tried to keep mum or stand away from the PPP chief’s outburst. It goes without saying that Zardari wanted a strong response from all the participants in favour of his uncharacteristic statement. Even if any political party like for example the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) quietly fully agreed with his attacking observations, it too held back its views in the open.
It was an assemblage of the political parties, which were allies of the last PPP government in 2008-2013. All of them showed up. Although they are no more formal political partners of Zardari, at times they cooperate with him in different important matters.
Whether or not it was intended, the gathering did not result in formation of a formal or informal front or alliance to help rescue Zardari, whose troubles in Sindh are likely to multiply in the days to come.
The apparent main objective of hosting the gathering by Zardari was to secure political support for his June 16 unusual statement against the army at a time when the PPP chief has come under mounting pressure specifically in Sindh due to the unending actions of the Rangers. However, the meeting did not present any such political solidarity.
Joint statements are generally issued on conclusion of such assemblies. But in the instant case, this was not done. It is quite possible that no communiqué was planned in view of the sensitive nature of the subject under discussion and Zardari just wanted to judge the sense of his guests regarding his harangue.
As expected, Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain counseled the PPP chief to continue his policy of reconciliation in the national interest. He expressed the view that all participants agreed to protect the honour and reputation of the military at all costs as the army is the defender of Pakistan’s geographical and ideological borders.
Immediately after Zardari’s harsh statement, the PML-Q president had scoffed at it and stood with the army. He has always been expected to act like this.
The Awami National Party (ANP), which has a no holds barred policy regarding key national issues and jumps up with its opinion instantly, did not publicly offer support to Zardari. Its participation in the Iftar-dinner was natural as it is his ally and stands with him on significant issues.
As usual, the strategy of Jamiat Ulemae Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman was interesting if not ironic. He did not formally attend the meeting, but reached the venue to have a discussion with Zardari when the deliberations were in progress. In the past he was a partner of the PPP while he is now an ally of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the federal government.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would certainly not have honoured the invitation had Zardari given it. The ruling PML-N might have sent one or two ministers to the meeting had it been invited. Apparently, the PPP confined its guest list to its allies in its previous government.
The refusal of the Jamaat-e-Islami to attend the discussion was not understandable given the policy of its chief Sirajul Haq, who keeps harping on the theme of political reconciliation and tolerance.
Irrespective of attending or staying away of political parties from the feast, the PPP has showed staunch but freakish steadfastness in sticking to the bellicose rhetoric of Zardari and has not dropped even a slight hint that he plans to withdraw or modify it in order to dispense with the negative portrayal of the army that his statement did.
Senior PPP leaders have held repeated pressers to ‘clarify’ Zardari’s remarks, but at no stage have they taken back the objectionable part, which makes it clear that whatever the PPP chief said was well considered and there was no going back on it.