Former prime minister and Pakistan Peoples Party central leader Yousuf Raza Gilani said here on Sunday that PPP not only gave a new identity to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but also nominated the governor of the province from Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
He was speaking at a PPP rally in Lower Dir which the party chairman Asif Ali Zardari didn't attend reportedly over security issues. The rally was, however, largely attended by PPP provincial president, Engr Hamayun Khan and other central and provincial leaders and workers of the party.
Gilani said that the PPP government during its tenure devolved powers to smaller provinces as envisaged under the Constitution, transferred presidential powers to the parliament, besides made all-out efforts to remove sense of deprivations and reservations of the provinces. Lauding the sacrifices of the people of Malakand division in the war against terrorism, he said that Pakistan Army had made immense efforts for restoring peace and security to the area.
He said the PPP accepted the court's decision when he was dismissed from the premiership. The country's constitution was framed by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, but the PPP refrained from having any standoff with other institutions merely to ensure rule of law and supremacy of the constitution.
"Those who have written off the PPP are living in fool's paradise," the former premier remarked, saying that one should know that the PPP since its inception had been struggling for the rights of peasants, labourers, women and the down-trodden people of the country. Gilani said the PPP gave a new identity to Pakhtuns, whereas the incumbent government blocked the identity cards of Pakhtuns and with regard to Fata it has only called for its (Fata) merger with the KP.
The former PM demanded that all the blocked CNICs should be unblocked forthwith. At the outset, the PPP leader said that his party has decided to form a grand opposition alliance shortly after the Supreme Court had announced its verdict in the Panama Papers case. Besides, the PPP has also launched countrywide protests against prolonged load-shedding. PPP, he added, will hold rallies and protest demonstration against the federal government ahead of the 2018 general elections.