Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani —File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani received ‘applause’ from PPP leaders on Monday night for his earlier speech in the National Assembly and was assured of complete party backing when he would appear before the Supreme Court on Thursday to answer a contempt of court notice.

PPP’s senior members, including a number of federal ministers, assured the prime minister at a meeting, presided over by President Asif Ali Zardari, that ‘the party will stand behind him in adopting a stance that is correct, respectful and constitutional’.

Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Khan Babar told reporters after the meeting held in the Presidency that the PPP leaders had also ‘appreciated the support extended to leaders of the government and the party by all coalition partners and thanked them for it’.

He said the meeting held in the Presidency reiterated confidence in the leadership of President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani, who also attended it.

Mr Babar said the meeting reviewed the current situation and ‘discussed ways and means of overcoming the challenges faced by the party and the government’.

Sources in the PPP told Dawn that the main purpose of the meeting was to devise a strategy for the prime minister`s appearance before a seven-judge SC bench hearing the NRO implementation case.

The PPP’s information secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira refused to give details of the strategy prepared by the party for Thursday. “Why should I share my party’s plan? How are you asking this question and why should I tell you anything which is secret?”.

Similarly, when asked whether the prime minister and his party would march to the Supreme Court in a procession, the presidential spokesman said he could not disclose details butonly say that the party did not plan to make the occasion a show of strength.

Earlier talking to reporters outside the Parliament House, Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan said all cabinet members would accompany the prime minister to the court. She said the resolution adopted in the National Assembly was aimed at strengthening parliament and not degrading any institution.

The meeting at the Presidency was attended by President Zardari’s sister Faryal Talpur, Leader of the House in Senate Nayyar Bokhari, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Rehman Malik, Mir Hazar Khan Bijrani, Manzoor Wattoo, Syed Khursheed Shah, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Syed Naveed Qamar, Babar Awan, Raza Rabbani, Jahangir Badar, Faisal Raza Abidi, Sardar Ali Khan, Nazar Gondal, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Rana Farooq Saeed Khan, Rukhsana Bangash, Fouzia Habib, Mehreen Anwar Raja and Farhatullah Babar.