‘Will give govt tough time being in PDM’: Bilawal rips apart show cause notice

KARACHI: Chairman Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday tore up the copy of the show-cause notice sent earlier to the PPP by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

The PPP chairman tore up the copy of the show-cause notice as he chaired the hours long crucial meeting of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) held here at the Bilawal House. The CEC session continued till 9 pm. The top decision-making body of the PPP will meet again on Monday (today) to finalise its decisions and later formally brief the media about the same.

Also on the occasion, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Yusuf Raza Gilani offered to resign from his Senate position. Gilani offered to step down for the sake of unity of the PDM. It was learnt that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and former president Asif Ali Zardari opposed the proposal that the opposition leader in the Senate should resign. The sources privy to the meeting said the CEC meeting unanimously opposed such a move by the opposition leader in the Senate.

The show-cause notice issued to the PPP by the PDM came under discussion in the meeting. Bilawal, it was learnt, read out the contents of the show-cause notice sent by PDM Secretary General Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

The sources privy to the meeting said that afterwards Bilawal during the meeting tore up the copy of the show-cause notice as he became emotional. The participants of the meeting reportedly clapped to this extraordinary move of the PPP chairman.

The PPP chairman said that they would neither leave the forum of parliament nor would they resign from the assemblies. He reportedly said the reason behind the formation of the PDM was strengthening the democracy and it was not meant to weaken the democratic dispensation in the country.

He said that the show-cause notice sent by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was tantamount to imposing the agenda of a single party and it was better not to respond to this notice. He said that they would give a tough time to the government after remaining part of the opposition parties’ alliance.

He said that talks would also be held with the Awami National Party, which had recently parted ways with the PDM. It is worth mentioning that the PDM had issued the show-cause notice to the PPP against the latter’s move to seek support from the Balochistan Awami Party for securing the slot of opposition leader in the Senate.

On the offer of Gilani to resign, the participants of the CEC meeting said that he (Gilani) had no reason to resign as the opposition leader in the Senate as in the past he had left the office of the prime minister for the sake of democratic principles. They said that the entire party stood with Gilani.

The CEC meeting was a hybrid session as over 50 members attended the meeting either in-person or via the video-link. The CEC members reportedly advised the party leadership against the proposal of instantly abandoning the PDM. They reminded that the People’s Party was like the founder of the PDM and it should fight off the efforts of other component parties to hijack the opposition alliance.

They said that the opposition parties in the country should remain united on a single platform. The PPP hoped that the PDM would review its attitude towards the party, otherwise it could take any extreme decision regarding its presence in the opposition alliance. The CEC’s session will re-convene at 10 am on Monday while a briefing is likely to be held later in the afternoon after the conclusion of the meeting.

Former president Asif Ali Zardari attended the meeting via video link. Some important participants of the session, who attended the meeting in person, included Yusuf Raza Gilani, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Sherry Rehman, Farhatullah Babar, Nayyar Bukhari, Aitzaz Ahsan, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Syed Murad Ali Shah, Makhdoom Ahmed Mahmood, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Shazia Marri, Faisal Karim Kundi, Ali Madad Jatak, Choudhry Lateef Akbar, Islamuddin Shaikh, Hari Ram Kishori Lal, Jam Mehtab Dahar, Rehman Malik and others.