The Central Executive Committee (CEC) of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) put its weight behind Asif Ali Zardari and gave him mandate to talk with the government and contact political leadership of the country over the situation emerging in the wake of his anti-army speech. According to sources, the CEC of the party has endorsed the party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari's speech that drew severe criticism from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI).
This decision was taken at a CEC meeting of PPP headed by party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday. The sources said the members discussed the latest political situation and party performance in by-elections held in the country. The members presented different views on party performance and decided to reorganise the PPP.
The sources said the CEC also urged the party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto to contest elections and become part of the National Assembly. The CEC also proposed that Bilawal could contest election from the constituency of Faryal Talpur. While taking to media, PPP leader and former Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said his party leadership had never retracted their statement in past nor do they have any intention to do so this time around.
"We have assured party Co-chairman to stand his ground if he wants to put up a fight and he would find the rest of the party by his side," Mukhtar said. After meeting, PPP Spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar told the media that philosophy of former President Asif Ali Zardari is reconciliation and it would be pursued. Answering a question, he said that media only brought one part of Asif Ali Zardari's speech under spotlight. He said that all the institutions should perform their role under the parameters of constitution.
He said that the Gilgit-Baltistan chapter of Party was dissolved in order to elect new office bearers. The party's Balochistan chapter was discussed and a re-organisation was proposed, he said. He said in light of the upcoming local bodies polls in Sindh and Punjab, decisions to activate workers and award tickets on merit were taken.
The party also expressed severe reservations on the manner in which the KPK polls were conducted. The agenda of the KPK Tripartite Alliance was confirmed and reiterated, he said. Babar said the party took a clear position on initiating and supporting the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and will continue to play a key role in building consensus on it. The party has demanded that allocations in the federal budget be made commensurate to its early completion on priority and according to plans agreed to in the APC called for this purpose, he said.
The party took note of the recent hostile statements made by the Indian leadership and expressed concern that they were not conducive to making peace with honour in the region, he said. He said the PPP resolved to support the military in the crucial Zarb-i-Azb and counter terror operations. The sacrifices of the army, police and law enforcement forces were appreciated and recognised. The PPP demanded that the federal government pay its full attention to pursuing the National Action Plan as envisaged in the APC in December 2014, he said. Babar said that finally, the meeting took notice of media comments on the co-chair's remarks made at a party event where only one part of the speech was emphasised repeatedly. The meeting decided that it is important for all institutions to work within their mandated constitutional parameters.
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