PPP wing leaders question membership suspension

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-affiliated People’s Youth Organisation (PYO) and People’s Students Federation (PSF) office-bearers have said only the party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari can suspend their membership and not anybody else.

Talking to The News here on Saturday, the provincial senior vice-chairman of the PYO Hazrat Ali Yousafzai said the PPP provincial chapter meeting headed by provincial president Humayun Khan was not authorised to suspend his membership and that of PSF president Faraz Khan. He claimed that majority of the provincial chapter members, including the provincial general secretary Faisal Karim Kundi, senior vice president Akhunzada Chattan, Senator Usman Saifullah, deputy general secretary Senator Bahramand Tangi and provincial information secretary Rubina Khalid did not attend the meeting.

Hazrat Ali said that none of the divisional president excluding former provincial minister Liaquat Shabab was present.

The irresponsibility and inefficiency of the provincial leaders, he said, could be judged from the reality that they were not aware of their party’s constitution.

“Instead of organising and stre ngthening the party, these members are interested in promoting their near and dear ones and running affairs of the party on adhoc basis,” he added. Justifying his protest during a party meeting in Mardan, Hazrat Ali recalled that he had been apprising his provincial leaders of the unrest among the workers for the last six months but none of them bothered to listen to their grievances.

“That was the place, where I could raise my issue and I did that,” he said and dispelled the impression that he had insulted his provincial leader. He argued that the video recording was clear that showed him raising his point. Hazrat Ali held the PPP provincial chapter responsible for all the ills within the party at the provincial level, saying that the “group of three” issued him show-cause notice when he organised a convention in Mardan. He said he was a genuine PPP worker and nobody could suspend his membership, warning the anti-party leaders to stop sidelining ideological workers.

“The PYO and PSF have now decided to stage joint protest demonstration outside the Bilawal House and expose the real faces of the so-called leaders,” Hazrat Ali said. He added that PPP activists from throughout the province would participate in the protest and inform their chairman regarding the real situation. “We will also hold a joint press conference to announce our future line of action next week,” he said and challenged the sitting body to demonstrate their strength.

“Our only demand is to purge the party of the corrupt, who are damaging the party,” he said and asked the chairman to hold investigation as to who had created divisions among the workers.