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| April 26, 2007 | Thursday | Rabi-us-Sani 08, 1428 |
PPP rules out deal with govt
ISLAMABAD, April 25: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has ruled out a deal with the government saying that the propaganda to this effect was being unleashed to divide the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD).
“There is a complete coordination and understanding among the ARD components and the government has failed to create a cleavage between them,” Central Secretary Information PPP Sherry Rehman told a news briefing, here on Wednesday.
She said the government, led by a uniformed president, had lost its credibility after its failure to take action against Jamia Hafsa students challenging the writ of the government in the heart of the federal capital. She said there was no justification for the government to stay in power anymore.
She said the government was protecting the fundamentalist forces at one hand, while suppressing the liberal forces fighting for democratic rights of the people and rule of law in the country.
She criticised the ruling PML-Q for holding what she called “rent-a-rally” and creating an atmosphere of provocation and violence. “I am at a loss to understand what message the government wants to convey by organizing a rally of hired baton- wielding persons at a time when the opposition was already on protest along with lawyers,” she remarked.
President PPP Punjab Shah Mehmood Qureshi also ruled out a compromise with the military dictatorship and said his party would not accept any supra-constitutional arrangement, indicating that the PPP would not accept a uniformed President.
Speaking at the press conference after the executive committee meeting of the Punjab PPP, he said, “We stand by the slogan of ‘go Musharraf go.’ We were not seeking a deal yesterday and do not want a deal today. Our direction is very clear.” Secretary Information Punjab PPP Farzana Raja and other leaders of the party were also present on the occasion.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi said there was no truth in the rumours that the PPP and the government were close to a deal. He said the government had created the confusion itself by making contradictory statements about a deal.
He termed the rally staged by the ruling PML-Q in support of the reference against Chief Justice while Gen Musharraf was abroad as part of the conspiracy Gen Musharraf had talked about at a public rally. He said while the filing of the reference against the chief justice was a legal folly, the rally in support of the reference was a political blunder.
Announcing the decisions taken at the central committee meeting, he said the PPP has decided to strengthen the movement for the independence of judiciary. He said PPP activists would welcome Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in each and every city he passes through on his way to address the lawyers’ convention in Lahore on May 5. He said an independent judiciary and a free media were essential to allow democracy to take root.
He said the meeting also decided to actively participate in workers’ rally at Lahore Railway station on May 1, besides holding a seminar to mark the labour day.
He said workers’ support and relief committee at provincial and district level to provide legal aid and physical and moral support to the jailed political activists.
He said week-long celebrations would commence on the birthday of Ms Bhutto, on June 21.
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