Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Tuesday that fear was not a part of PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s personality, adding that the PPP has never “done any politics on the behest of the establishment”.
These comments came one day after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah asserted that the former president had claimed to be weak during the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) meeting that took place last week.
He said that the PPP’s narrative had always been that it wants no role of the establishment in politics. However, he added that the party did not want to put an end to this role by fighting.
“In PDM meetings, it was decided that all decisions would be guided by everyone’s consensus and not by whose opinion held a majority,” the former minister asserted.
There has been speculation of dissent among the ranks of the PDM after Yousaf Raza Gillani lost the Senate chairman seat to the incumbent government’s candidate. Previously, it had been planned that the PPP would obtain the chairman seat, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) would win the deputy chairman slot, and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) would have the position of leader of the opposition in the upper house.
However, there are rumours that Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is now vying for that position for his own party. Furthermore, after last week’s high-power meeting of the PDM, it emerged that the PPP refused to hand in resignations until PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif returns to the country. The PPP had asserted that it was ready to take part in the long march, but did not approve of the sudden connection between the march and the resignations.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Kaira said that the situation in Pakistan would have been different had Gillani’s victory, on slot of Senate chairman, not been blocked.
“We are for the option of submitting resignations and are moving forward with some points. However, the time is not right for what you [PML-N, JUI-F] are asking for,” Karia stated.
The PPP leader further maintained that the position of the Senate opposition leader was not so important, adding that “the party is not ‘dying’ for it”.
Kaira further said that the PPP would go to the PDM after its Central Executive Committee’s (CEC) meeting, scheduled to be held on April 4.
Moreover, while the PDM president had announced that the workers of the alliance would accompany the PML-N vice president to her hearing in front of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on March 26, Kaira said that a decision in that regard would be given later.
Separately, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar has said that the political parties of the PDM have their own narrative and ideologies that are conflicting. He added that differences in PDM will be beneficial for the government.
He said that Asif Ali Zardari is an intelligent politician who understands that in case of resignations from the assemblies, the Sindh government will also end.
The Punjab governor was talking to media after inaugurating the first project of restoration of filtration plants under Punjab Aab-e-Pak Authority at Mahmoodpura Lahore on Tuesday.
Chaudhry Sarwar said that the opposition parties are only safeguarding personal and political interests and they have no concern for the nation and as far as differences in PDM are concerned, it is definitely beneficial for the government.
This also proves that there is no unity and consensus among the PDM parties on any issue. If it were not for the PPP government in Sindh, Asif Zardari would have had the same views on the issue of resignations from the assemblies as other PDM parties, he added.
Replying to a question, the governor said that the opposition should accept the mandate of the government and let PTI complete its five-year term.
