LARKANA, March 12: Sindh People’s Party Parliamentarians president Qaim Ali Shah has said Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif will meet in London soon to discuss the political situation in the country.
He was talking to Dawn in Gharhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto here on Saturday after presiding over a meeting of the Shaheed Bhutto Mazar Committee.
Mr Shah said that being in the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, the PPP and the PML-N were moving forward to work out a joint stand on different issues.
Referring to the recent meeting between Ms Bhutto and Shahbaz Sharif in Dubai, he said the two leaders had agreed that there should be true democracy and supremacy of the constitution in Pakistan.
Answering a question, he said a caretaker set-up was needed for holding fair and transparent general election under an independent election commission.
When asked when would Ms Bhutto return to Pakistan, he said she would return before the next general election as decided at a meeting of the party’s central committee and the federal council in London.
He said the Sindh chapter of the party had requested Ms Bhutto to return to the country via Karachi where she would be given a tumultuous welcome. He said she had received similar invitations from party leaders of Punjab, Balochistan and the NWFP.
Commenting on US President George W. Bush’s visit to Pakistan, he said it was a failure of Pakistan’s foreign policy. He said Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan had also aggravated.
Answering another question, he said he was optimistic that opposition parties would jointly contest the general election.
Criticizing the army action in Balochistan, the PPP leader urged the government to initiate a dialogue with leaders of the province to resolve the issue.
MPA Munwar Abbasi, former Larkana District Nazim Khurshid Junejo, SPSF president Saleem Soomro and other party leaders were present on the occasion.
COUNCIL MEETING: A session of the district council took an ugly turn on Saturday when pro-government women members hurled eggs on Awam Dost Panel members and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam’s Iqbal Soomro. They also threw sandals at members.
As the session began, Tauqir Fatima Bhutto, on a point of order, criticized the district government for dissolving the ladies club body.
Apa Nasiban Channa backed her, alleging that the step was aimed at handing over the club to land mafia.
Babu Serwar Siyal said the new body had been inducted as the previous one had failed to hold election within three month.
His comments that ADP members were opposing the move on instructions from Dubai caused rumpus in the council.
Convener Munwar Abro, who was presiding over the meeting, did not allow ADP members to respond and asked them to sit down.
The pro-government and opposition members traded charges and the situation aggravated when the pro-government women members started pelting eggs on ADP members and JUI’s Iqbal Soomro.
This forced the convener to prorogue the session sine die. The session ended without doing any business.
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