KARACHI: The Pakistan Peoples Party has decided to use party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s return home on Friday to show its muscle power by according him a “historic welcome to dispel the impression of the opposition that the people and party workers were no longer with Asif Ali Zardari”.

This was stated by PPP Sindh chapter president Nisar Ahmad Khuhro while talking to the media after presiding over a consultative meeting held on Monday at the Peoples Secretariat to chalk out a programme to accord a warm welcome to the party co-chairman.

In this connection, it was decided that former president Asif Ali Zardari will return home on Dec 23 at 3pm by a special flight to Karachi, where he would address party workers. After the address he will be taken to Bilawal House in a procession.

The next day the PPP co-chairman will have a luncheon meeting with all PPP MPAs from Sindh where, besides preparations for the public meeting on Dec 27, the possibility of launching a movement against the federal government, formation of a grand alliance for the purpose and other national affairs would be considered.

On Dec 25 Mr Zardari will leave for Larkana, where he will pay a visit to the graves of Benazir Bhutto and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. On next two days he will participate in anniversary functions and on Dec 28 he will reach Nawabshah, where he will offer fateha at the grave of his father, and from Nawabshah he will return to Karachi.

Mr Khuhro said the Asif Zardari reception committee had directed the party workers to reach Karachi airport on Dec 23 to accord a befitting welcome to the co-chairman.

In reply to a question, Mr Khuhro said that “the days of the PML-N government are numbered” and as such Nawaz Sharif should make preparations to roll back his government. He said Asif Zardari had not left the country under an agreement with Nawaz Sharif and Chaudhry Nisar, “who used to stand behind Gen Ziaul Haq and have never been to prison after coming to terms with Gen Musharraf” but were now calling the PPP a ‘Bachcha Party’.

In reply to yet another question, he said it was the PPP which made Nawaz Sharif’s return home possible. However, if the four demands of the PPP were not conceded to by the government, the political temperature would certainly rise.

He said that with the return of Asif Zardari, the party would build pressure on the PML-N government for the democratic rights of the people. The Nawaz government was not people-friendly as the people were facing problems because of the government’s policies.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah also held a meeting at CM House with PPP provincial leaders and Karachi administration to discuss and chalk out a plan to receive Asif Ali Zardari.

The meeting was attended by Sindh PPP president Nisar Khuhro, Waqar Mehdi, Jam Mehtab Dahar, Mukesh Chawla, Rashid Rabbani, Saeed Ghani, Shehla Raza, Imdad Pitafi and Fawaz Butt. From the administration side, acting IGP Mushtaq Maher, Karachi Commissioner Aijaz Ali Khan, DIG-South Azad Khan and others attended the meeting.

The chief minister said there would be foolproof security arrangements on the arrival of Asif Ali Zardari besides proper traffic management to prevent traffic jams.

Published in Dawn December 20th, 2016