Stance on resignations unchanged, says PPP

LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party Central Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira Tuesday said the party’s stance on the issue of resignations was still unchanged as it believed in a joint struggle and backed the idea of resigning from the assemblies, but at an appropriate time.

Flanked by PPP Central Secretary Information Faisal Karim Kundi and PPP Punjab Parliamentary leader Syed Hassan Murtaza, in a press conference here, he said the slot of opposition leader in the Senate was not a matter of life and death for the party. He said the PPP never wanted any cracks in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and added that the party would hold negotiations with the opposition alliance leadership after a meeting of the party’s central executive committee on April 4.

Kaira said the allegation that the PPP was changing its stance was not true. He said Asif Ali Zardari had spent 14 years in jails and the PPP was standing by its principles. Kaira said that all political parties would have to gather on one platform for bringing about a change in letter and spirit. He said that it had been decided in the PDM meeting that all decisions would be taken through consensus, not through majority vote.

To a question, he said it was not true that PPP delayed the decision of challenging the results of Senate chairman elections. He said the Senate Secretariat was closed and the PPP was unable to receive some important documents. Separately, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal said on Tuesday the nation was watching everyone who had harmed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

Talking to the media after laying a wreath at the Mazar-e-Iqbal and offering Fateha, he said the nation would not forgive those who had damaged the PDM. He said, "If all parties resign from the assemblies, the government will fall in 24 hours. We had told the PPP to only resign from the National Assembly, and stay in the government in Sindh".

Ahsan said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) wanted to make Pakistan opposition-free. He said Pakistan was the realisation of the dream of Allama Muhammad Iqbal. "For the first time in the Pakistan Resolution, passed on March 23, 1940, a separate homeland for the Muslims of the subcontinent was demanded. Under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam, the Muslims won the country in a period of just seven years. Iqbal's dream turned into a reality by the power of the ballot," he recalled. He said Pakistan had come into being with the power of the ballot, not the bullet.

"We started the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC); we eliminated terrorism, there was a 5.8pc growth rate during the PML-N government, but today people are facing worst inflation. There is unemployment; workers, farmers and students are all worried. Ex-FATA students are also worried, their scholarships have been stopped," he added.

He alleged that Kashmir was offered to India and all sacrifices made for it had been ignored. "Today, the government says that it is ready to hold unconditional talks with India, but no one is ready to stand with Pakistan," he claimed.

He said he would not comment on the statements of PPP leaders Asif Zardari and Bilawal Zardari. "Our target is Imran Khan; we will avoid rhetoric and a change of the government is our target," he added. He said political stability was required for development, and it should be explained on what merit the Punjab chief minister and members of the cabinet had been appointed. "If our government was corrupt, then why Rs55 per kg of sugar was sold at Rs105," he questioned.

He said the PDM had already decided that the leader of the opposition in the Senate would be from the PML-N. He hoped that the PPP would respect the decision. He said the NAB did not want a corruption-free but an opposition-free Pakistan and all NAB cases were based on revenge.

In response to a question, he said that in the Transparency International report, India and Bangladesh were far ahead of Pakistan in controlling corruption. He said East Pakistan separated from Pakistan as the vote was not respected, and the country's development had crashed after the vote was stolen in the 2018 general elections. He said Bangladesh had moved ahead of Pakistan as the power of vote was recognised there.