LAHORE, Feb 8: Anticipating court’s ‘ire’ over his political activities, President Asif Ali Zardari decided against going to the Governor’s House after arriving here on Friday and drove directly to his new residence — Bilawal House — in Bahria Town.
The president got cautious about using any ‘official residence’ after the government this week had given an undertaking to the Lahore High Court that the President House would not be used for political activities. Earlier, President Zardari used to stay at the Governor’s House whenever he visited Lahore.
Governor Makhdoom Ahmed Mahmood received the president at the airport and they left for the Bilawal House at Bahria Town of property tycoon Malik Riaz.
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf called on him. But a good number of PPP leaders from Lahore who rushed to see the president were not allowed to enter Bahria Town.
The president’s media team also kept quiet about his engagements apparently to avoid an impression that he was involved in ‘any political activity’.
On behalf of the federation, Advocate Wasim Sajjad had told the LHC that President Zardari was co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party which was not a political party but a `private association’ having no legal status because it was neither registered with the Election Commission nor did it field candidates in elections.
“The president is very cautious (for the time being) about his political activities as he does not want to give a reason to the court to go against him in the dual office case,” a PPP Punjab leader told Dawn. “Let the dust settle, the Bilawal House will be a hub of political activities and a strategy to snatch Punjab from Sharifs will be devised here,” he said.
President’s spokesman Seantor Farhatullah Babar did not respond to a Dawn’s query about his (president’s) political activities at Bilawal House.
The journalists who were outside the Bilawal House to cover the president’s engagements were victims of rough handling by personnel of Bahria Town for refusing to abide by their ‘request’ to leave.
The security personnel used fire tender as water cannon to disperse journalists. They also used baton and chased them out of the Bahria premises. A security official was of the view that the media had not been invited there and their presence was causing `disturbance’ for residents.
In a later development, Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz apologised to the newsmen and escorted them to the Bilawal House.
