KARACHI, Jan 12: The tragic death of Ms Benazir Bhutto on Dec 27 has brought a hostile business community close to her party—the Pakistan People’s Party—when a big delegation of 48 businessmen visited on Thursday Garhi Khuda Bux to lay floral wreath on her grave and to condole with Mr Asif Zardari at Nau Dero.

Organised by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the businessmen delegation included representatives from virtually all the regional chambers and top trade associations. Conspicuous by its absence in this delegation was Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“We stayed away from this delegation because we have strong reservations on representative character of the FPCCI,’’ Mr Siraj Kassim Teli, a senior leader of the KCCI, told Dawn on Saturday evening.

As he said the KCCI too was planning earlier to go to Larkana to lay floral wreath on Ms Benazir Bhutto’s grave and to condole her death with Mr Zardari. “But for some reason, we could not make it,’’ he said and pointed out that the KCCI would definitely meet the PPP leadership on first available opportunity.

The business community remained hostile to the PPP all along during two terms of Benazir’s government, from 1988 to 1990 and then in 1993 to 1996. In fact, offices of chambers in various cities were the sources from where many stories of alleged corruption and financial scandals emerged against the PPP governments in two terms.

Tariq Sayeed led agitation against PPP government in June 1990 when Sales Tax Act 1990 was legislated as business community was not ready for documentation of the transactions. Earlier, when Benazir government awarded pre-shipment examination contract to Swiss company Cotecna, the businessmen were up against the government.

An incentive package for the industrial zone in NWFP Gadoon Amazai also provoked the businessmen to launch agitation against PPP government. And finally, top businessmen from textile and other sectors brought out a protest procession from Karachi Press Club to Chief Minister House against lawlessness.

Later when after her first dismissal in August 1990, Benazir Bhutto visited the FPPCI on the invitation of the then FPCCI President Mian Habibullah, there was no business leader worth mentioning present in that meeting.

It was in that meeting the late PPP leader promised to enforce tax on income of agriculturists when she comes to power again. She did when PPP was swept into government in 1993.

Later in 1993 to 1996, the business community never came to terms with the PPP. Pakistan’s business could never reconcile with populist approach of the party.

But on Thursday, it was all sweet. While one leader after the other—Tariq Sayeed, S M Muneer, Iftikhar Malik, Mr Ikhtiar Baig, Sardar Ashraf and many others recounted the head and heart qualities of the assassinated PPP leader, the co-chairman of the party, Asif Zardari, in his remarks is to have promised to associate businessmen in vital decision-making on economic issues.

According to Ikhtiar Baig, Mr Zardari assured the businessmen to continue privatisation “but in fair and transparent manner, and “not like KESC which has plunged our business capital into an unending darkness.”

He promised to add 4,000 to 5,000 MW electricity in the first year after his party is elected in the elections by private power operators.

``We did it in 1995,’’ he recalled and assured that the PPP can still do it.

Mr Zardari is also said to have assured a reconciliation policy and recalled that nothing was done to undo privatisation of the MCB when there were many reservations on it.

Mr Ikhtiar Baig, who is contesting for a National Assembly ticket of PPP from Karachi, is said to be a bridge between businessmen and the PPP.