Co-Chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari is the leader and decides which city of the country to land in. This was stated by President of PPP Central Punjab Qamar Zaman Kaira in response to a query by this correspondent as to whether Lahore was selected as the entry point given that the disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was also resident in Lahore.
Farhatullah Babar, Spokesperson for PPP, denied any secret contacts between Asif Ali Zardari and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, but added that PPP would stand with democratic institutions and continue its struggle for the supremacy of parliament. He also dispelled the impression that all the [decision-making] powers rest with Zardari and said that PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is here and he takes decisions in consultation with senior party leaders; and is in constant contact with his father and consults him, if he feels it necessary, before taking any decision on any issue. "There is a decision making process in the party. The members of Central Executive Committee of the party take collective decision in the party under the chairmanship of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari," Babar said.
Qamar Zaman Kaira stated that Asif Ali Zardari would hold meetings with Punjab leadership of PPP and discuss the country's overall political situation. Kaira further maintained that PPP does not believe in any "grand dialogue" as was recently suggested by Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani but wants to strengthen parliament to enable it to play a more effective role. This was reconfirmed by Senator Babar. "There is nothing about any grand dialogue anywhere in the world. We need to focus on the parliament and make efforts to strengthen it," President of PPP Central Punjab Qamar Zaman Kaira stated while talking exclusively to Business Recorder on Tuesday.
Kaira said there is need for balance of power between three institutions - parliament, judiciary and military establishment, which is defined in the Constitution of Pakistan; there is a need to implement it, he added. "If parliament plays its due role and properly fulfills its responsibility then all other institutions can function under it by staying within their perimeters," PPP leader said. Kaira said that PPP had always given due importance to parliament and struggled for its supremacy. PPP, he added, had requested the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government several times to pay attention to Parliament but it did not do so.
The PPP, he further stated, had also suggested to the PML-N government to resolve the issues of Panama papers in parliament but it did not accept consensus Terms of Reference (ToR) of all the opposition parties.
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