There are no fresh contacts between the PPP and the government after talks broke down when the government made an aborted attempt to take over the leadership of Benazir Bhutto, PPP spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar said in a statement on Thursday. A section of the press has reported that the government had made some fresh proposals to the PPP.
Senator Farhatullah Babar said that after the rejection of the government's proposal, there has been no contact between the party and the government.
According to the government's proposal Benazir Bhutto should abdicate Party leadership, not return to the country even after the next general elections and accept the 17th constitutional amendments.
"It is ridiculous to suggest that under conditions of siege imposed on the Party some fresh proposals have been made," he said and listed how the Party was continuously being victimised.
Government's lawyers in Geneva are insisting that Senator Zardari personally appear before the investigators next month knowing full well that doctors have advised him complete rest and travel and stress can endanger his life.
The manner in which Zahid Bhurgury, MPA Sindh was arrested, hooded and handcuffed and other PPP parliamentarians harassed is public knowledge.
In such conditions of hostility it is ridiculous to suggest that there are any talks between the PPP and the government, he said. "Such reports are fed by the government to confuse the people and cause a division in the ranks of ARD".
He said that neither Bhutto nor the PPP was mulling over any so-called offer to join the helpless government that had no powers to help the people of Pakistan.
The establishment thinks that it can blackmail Benazir Bhutto into accepting General Musharraf and abdicating party leadership by flaunting the fabricated cases against her based on false allegations levelled by the rulers in Islamabad before authorities in Geneva, he said and added, "There is no question of Bhutto being blackmailed.
The Party denies that Benazir is holding consultations either with Party leaders or 'friends' in the State Department to find out the status of a dialogue that never took off.
It also denies that General Musharraf tried to obtain the support of the PPP and Bhutto for "some decisions pertaining to Pakistan's external security and avoid a future political scene dominated by conservative religious forces." General Musharraf finds it convenient to make the PPP the excuse for him lacking the support to take certain decisions while on the other hand pressuring the Party to ensure that its workers remain hostile to him.
The government keeps feeding stories to the press that a deal is on the anvil with the PPP. It has done this since 2000 to give the impression of lowering political tensions at home and to satisfy the concern of those, who are worried that a political vacuum is leading to the rise of the religious parties, the spokesman said.