Tag: PPP

  • PDM: Done and dusted?

    PDM: Done and dusted?

    PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday announced that the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) has called upon its members to resign from all positions of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). 

    Flanked by party leaders, Bilawal held a news conference to speak about the matters that came under discussion during the recently-held Central Executive Committee meeting of the party. 

    He said the CEC had come to the conclusion that resignations from the national and provincial assemblies should be “like an atom bomb”.

    Bilawal said the PPP’s stance that the Opposition should not “abandon the Parliament and the Senate battleground” had been vindicated.

    He said if the PPP had listened to other political parties in the Opposition and boycotted the Senate elections and by-elections, then it would have harmed democracy.

    “We did not give the PTI government an open field to form a two-thirds majority in the Senate,” he said, adding that the government lost on its “own pitch” when the PDM candidate won from the Nowshera by-election.

    “We will not undermine these gains that the PPP has achieved after giving many sacrifices,” he said. “When the PML-N was in power, we protected the Parliament then and we will protect the Parliament today.”

    He said those who wanted to resign from the Parliament, should do so.

    “But, no one should try to impose their will or their dictation on any other political party,” he said. “And the Pakistan Peoples Party will continue in its firm, consistent Opposition to the selected government that has been ongoing since day one and has not broken for a single day,” stressed the PPP chairperson.

    “The Pakistan Peoples Party rejects the so-called show-cause notice,” he said. “Politics is done with equality and respect,” he added.

    “The PPP demands an unconditional apology to the ANP and to the PPP for this obnoxious attitude,” he said.

    Bilawal said the PPP stands by the ANP and would not abandon them under any circumstances. “There is no concept of show-cause notices in democratic alliances,” he said.

    He recounted the PPP’s participation in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy and the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy.

    “We condemn the politics of Opposition against members of the Opposition,” he said.

    The PPP chairperson said his party’s doors were open for all other parties, adding that there should be a “working relationship” among them.

  • ‘Dictator Maryam’ blamed for PDM’s downfall

    ‘Dictator Maryam’ blamed for PDM’s downfall

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president and key leader of the opposition alliance, Maryam Nawaz has been accused of having a “dictatorial attitude” that has also been cited as the reason behind the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) downfall.

    As per the details, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders travelled to Wali Bagh, the residence of Awami National Party (ANP) head Asfandyar Wali on Thursday and held talks with him and other party leaders on the evolving political situation in the country.

    The PPP and ANP are the two parties with which the PDM is having differences ever since ex-premier Yousuf Raza Gilani’s election as the Senate opposition leader — a move deemed as betrayal by other parties of the opposition alliance.

    The ANP has already announced to quit the PDM, saying the show-cause notices over voting for Gilani were an insult to the party.

    Briefing reporters after the meeting, Nayyar Hussain Bukhari and Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the PPP would take the decision of whether or not to quit the PDM at its Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting scheduled later this month.

    They blamed the “dictatorial attitude” of Maryam Nawaz for the disintegration of the alliance.

    “The split in the PDM began with the issuance of the show-cause notice,” Mian Iftikhar Hussain said, adding, it was an insult to ANP and couldn’t be tolerated.

    Meanwhile, Nayyar Hussain Bukhari said the PPP had proposed Maulana Fazlur Rahman as the PDM head but the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief adopted “a step-motherly attitude” towards the PPP. 

    “PPP is not subordinate to any political party.”

    He said that the PPP was ready for the “long march” to Islamabad and wanted to use resignations from the assemblies as the last option.

  • PPP, several others, including PTI’s Fawad, against criminalising criticism

    PPP, several others, including PTI’s Fawad, against criminalising criticism

    The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has said that it rejects any attempts to further gag the fundamental right of freedom of expression in the name of preventing defamation and disrespect of the armed forces.

    In a statement, Senator Farhatullah Babar expressed grave concern over a bill moved by a PTI MNA and approved by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior seeking to amend the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) to send anyone to jail for two years with fine Rs 500,000 or both for what has been described as ‘defamation of the army”.

    He said that Section 500 of the PPC already provides punishment for the defamation of anyone, and the addition of Section 500-A is aimed only at gagging freedom of expression guaranteed under Article 19 of the constitution in name of national security. It is not acceptable and will be opposed at every platform he said.

    “The nation has witnessed enough of how behind the facade of ‘national security’ citizens have disappeared mysteriously, national resources diverted, internment centres set up, ex-tribal areas made a no-go area, foreign and security policies hijacked and security establishment’s business and commercial empire expanded exponentially.”

    Section 500-A is liable to be grossly misused in the name of national security as Section 295-C has been misused in the name of religion, he said.

    “Defence forces working within their constitutional limits are universally admired and do not need any legislation to protect their honor and respect. Similarly, no legislation can stop people from questioning those who transgress their limits with impunity,” he said.

    While the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) reportedly tried to block the bill from approval by NA Standing Committee on Interior, saying it was a violation of right to freedom of expression, some government members have also expressed concern.

    While Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari had earlier blocked a similar bid to curb criticism, Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry has now said it was an “absolutely ridiculous idea”.

    In a tweet, he said he strongly felt that instead of introducing new laws to quell criticism, the laws dealing with contempt of court “should be repealed”.

    He was seconded by Mazari.

    “Totally agree. Cannot state it strongly enough,” she wrote.

  • JKT reacts to reports of joining PPP, seeks ‘insaf from Tehreek-e-Insaf’

    JKT reacts to reports of joining PPP, seeks ‘insaf from Tehreek-e-Insaf’

    Disgruntled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen has said that his loyalty to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan was being tested, but he is not parting ways with the ruling party.

    Speaking to the media after he arrived at a banking court to attend his bail hearing, he was reacting to claims by Shehla Raza of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

    Raza had a day earlier claimed that Tareen was soon joining the PPP.

    “Not one, not two but three FIRs have been registered against me,” he said on Wednesday. “Out of the 80 sugar mill owners, all they could see was Jahangir Tareen,” he said, questioning why he was being subjected to “revenge”.

    The PTI leader said his “loyalty was being tested”. He added that an inquiry against him, relating to the sugar crisis, has been going on for the last year.

    He lamented that his accounts as well as those belonging to his son, Ali Tareen, had been frozen. “Why have my accounts been frozen? Who is doing this? Who benefits from this?” he asked. Tareen said he was “asking for justice from (PTI) [League of Justice]”, adding that he was a friend, but being “pushed towards enmity”.

    In response to a question, Tareen said it was time to expose those involved in a conspiracy against him. He said PM Imran could expose the person who was hell-bent on exacting revenge against him.

    Despite his grievances against the ruling party, Tareen said he was not parting ways with the PTI. “I am a member of the PTI and will remain so,” he said.

    When a reporter asked Tareen whether he was about to meet former president and PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari, he said the reports were baseless.

  • Did Gilani just throw Bilawal under the bus?

    Did Gilani just throw Bilawal under the bus?

    Former prime minister (PM) and incumbent leader of the opposition in Senate, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said it was Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s decision to seek the support of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) lawmakers for his election to the post.

    “They approached that we, a four-member group headed by Dilawar, want to join you. They didn’t approach me, they approached chairman sahib [Bilawal],” he said.

    He made the revelation in an interview with a private media outlet, where he also said he was neither interested in the seat of the Senate chairmanship nor leader of the opposition, but it was Bilawal who made the decision.

    His nomination for the slot and ultimate win despite joint opposition’s reservations is what is the latest and apparently the biggest bone of contention between the PPP and PDM so far.

    Gilani, who was in a straight contest with PML-N candidate Azam Nazeer Tarar, had earlier denied using the votes of BAP senators, saying he had secured the seat with the support of 30 “opposition” senators.

    These included 21 members from the PPP, two from the Awami National Party, one from the Jamaat-e-Islami, two independents from erstwhile Fata (Hidayatulla and Hilalur Rahman) and four from the independent group of Dilawar Khan, who had been supporting the PML-N in the past. Other members of the group include Kaira Babar, Naseebullah Bazai and Ahmad Khan.

    Speaking in the programme on Monday, Gilani expressed support for the decision to secure votes from BAP senators and said they were disgruntled members who approached Bilawal for the post of leader of the opposition in the Senate.

    “But what is wrong in taking their support?” he questioned.

    Gilani further said that the PDM must stay intact but the decision to resign from assemblies had come out of the blue.

    He questioned what would be the next move after the resignations came, adding that this was what the PPP’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) would ask them.

    Gilani’s son and PPP member Kasim Gilani, however, has lamented “spread of disinformation” regarding the interview.

    Taking to Twitter he clarified his father’s statement.

    Meanwhile, ANP has reportedly withdrawn from the PDM after show-cause notices were issued to the party to explain their actions during the recently-held Senate polls.

    They had voted for Gilani in a move deemed betrayal by the opposition alliance but democratic right by the PPP and ANP.

  • Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F joins hands with PM Imran’s PTI against PPP in Larkana?

    Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F joins hands with PM Imran’s PTI against PPP in Larkana?

    • Show-cause notices for PPP, ANP

    In an unforeseen turn of events, Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has joined hands with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) in Larkana to give the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) a tough time in its stronghold, a private media outlet has reported.

    However, the media report isn’t entirely true as brother of the JUI-F chief, Senator Attaur Rehman, has rubbished the same in conversation with The Current.

    Amid widening cracks between members of the anti-government alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the media report had claimed that JUI-F has forged with the PTI and GDA a new alliance named “Larkana Awami Ittihad”.

    It had went on to add that the alliance includes PTI leaders Ammer Buz Bhutto and Allah Bux with GDA’s Moazzam Ali Khan Abbasi and Safdar Abbasi.

    “The newly-formed alliance has also announced extending the scope of the campaign against PPP in the entire Larkana division,” the report had claimed further.

    When approached for a comment, Senator Attaur Rehman rubbished all claims and maintained that his party had only supported PTI backed-GDA candidate Moazam Ali Abbasi in Larkana by-election back in 2019.

    “Even though the JUI-F and PPP have no electoral agreement to support each other’s candidates, especially in Larkana, there is no truth to the claims,” he said and added the “ages-old” alliance was making headlines only due to a recent statement by PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

    Last Friday, Bilawal had claimed that the JUI-F sided with the “establishment” and opposed the PPP in the said by-election. “But despite that we accepted Fazl as leader of the PDM,” he had said.

    “If that is true, did we forge an alliance with the PPP in Karachi and Ghotki also on establishment’s orders?” Senator Attaur Rehman asked.

    To a question, he categorically denied the existence of any alliance between the JUI-F and PTI. “Let sleeping dogs lie,” he said.

    Trouble has been brewing among members of the anti-government alliance since after former PM Yousuf Raza Gilani’s nomination by the PPP for the slot of opposition leader in the Senate. His election as the leader of opposition in the upper house has also only worsened the deteriorating ties.

    Many, including leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other PDM member parties, seem to believe the PPP has “backstabbed” the joint opposition.

    The report by the private media outlet and its rebuttal come soon after it was revealed that the PDM has served show-cause notices to the PPP and the Awami National Party (ANP).

    While contents of the notices have not yet been disclosed, sources told The Current that they also pertain to Gilani’s election as Senate’s opposition leader despite the PDM’s reservations.

    The ANP, also a member of the PDM, had voted for Gilani.

    “They [notices] were handed to ANP’s Hidayatullah Khan and PPP’s Sherry Rehman,” sources said.

  • Opposition infighting: PPP’s Khokhar calls spade a spade

    Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar has said the recent decisions taken by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) have not gone down well in the public.

    “The people are sick and tired of rising inflation. Unemployment rate is at an all-time high. They want to get rid of this government,” he said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

    The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader maintained that the infighting between opposition parties had given breathing space to an anti-people government.

    “On the issue of resignations, the other parties had a weak argument. But at the same time, the PPP’s decision on the leader of opposition in Senate was also not correct,” said Khokhar.

    He added that the pressure on the PPP to resign was unnecessary while the party, too, should not have taken support from Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).

    “I believe that taking votes from the ruling alliance has damaged our ideological narrative. If we want to take back space in other provinces, we have to give priority to the issues of the people rather than indulging in power politics.”

    Senator Khokhar said he hoped the Central Executive Committee (CEC) would look into these issues. “Difference of opinion is a democratic right and I hope my statement will also be taken in the same light.”

    Tensions have been brewing between opposition alliance members ever since PPP’s decision to nominate former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani for the slot of opposition leader in Senate.

    The PML-N believed it deserved to nominate one from its ranks, and Gilani’s successful election only made things worse.

    Now other members of the PDM are mulling refusing to accept Gilani as their leader, which might serve yet another blow to the anti-government alliance.

  • PDM at war

    PDM at war

    The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is at war with itself, it seems. The opposition alliance that was formed last year as an anti-government alliance now seems to be fighting a battle within its ranks.

    The two largest parties — Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) — have had a falling out of sorts in recent weeks.

    While we saw over the months since the formation of the PDM that the PML-N leadership took a rather strong stand on the establishment meddling in politics, the PPP was being cautious when it came to naming anyone directly. The strategies of both parties also seemed to be different, which is understandable given the fact that PDM is a mix of different parties with different ideologies. But one of their common goals was to get rid of the government.

    There were of course differences in strategies as to how to do it: the PML-N and Maulana Fazlur Rehman believed in resignations but the PPP believes that it should be done within the democratic framework while remaining in the system. It is understandable that the PPP would not want to resign given that it is the only Opposition party that is in power in a province. It has more at stake in parliamentary system at the moment than other parties of PDM.

    These issues have now come back in public again after the recent PDM meeting where former president Asif Zardari asked former premier Nawaz Sharif to return to Pakistan when the issue of resignations from assemblies was proposed once again by the latter. What ensued was a public war of words. From a tweet by Maryam Nawaz warning PM Imran to be wary of a ‘substitute’ being fostered, to Bilawal Bhutto saying he will not respond to a PML-N vice president’s statement and his party VP could respond.

    Then Bhutto-Zardari said a family from Lahore has a track record of being selected, quite obviously taking a jibe at the Sharifs. Things escalated even faster when the PPP went against the consensus decision of PDM on the Leader of the Opposition in Senate being from the PML-N. First they said they do not agree on the name of Azam Nazeem Tarar as he is defending two police officers accused in Benazir Bhutto’s assassination case, who have been accused of negligence after her murder.

    The PML-N says that if the PPP could have a deputy PM who was directly nominated in BB’s letter, then why would they have an issue with Tarar’s name who is not defending any murderers. The PPP’s Yousaf Raza Gilani recently became the Leader of Opposition in Senate after securing votes from the government’s ally, BAP. Apart from the ANP and Jamaat-e-Islami, the rest of the Opposition parties supported Tarar in Senate.

    Now it remains to be seen whether the PDM decides that PPP will remain part of the Opposition alliance or not. The government, it seems, is having fun at the PPP’s expense. However, it is important that instead of this infighting, the Opposition parties should sit with the government and work on electoral reforms, accountability reforms, judicial reforms, among other things. Every democratic government must complete its tenure and bring about reforms.

    It is high time that the PDM stop thinking about a change in government and think long term so that it can benefit the system. Any elections without proper reforms would lead to finger-pointing by those who lose. It is important that all parties put aside their differences for the greater good of democracy.

  • Gilani becomes Senate’s Opp leader

    Gilani becomes Senate’s Opp leader

    Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani has notified newly-elected Senator Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani as leader of the opposition in the Upper House of the parliament after the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) nominated him for the slot with the support of 30 of his colleagues.

    “In pursuance of Rule 16 (3) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate 2012, the Chairman Senate has been pleased to declare Senator Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, with effect from 26th March, 2021,” read the notification issued by the Senate Secretariat.

    Former premier Yousaf Raza Gillani had earlier in the day filed nomination papers for the slot, according to pictures shared by PPP Senator Rubina Khalid on Twitter.

    PML-N’s Azam Nazir Tarrar, according to reports, had the support of 21 opposition senators while five-senator-strong Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) did not support any candidate.

    Talking to the media after submitting the request, Senator Sherry Rehman said the PPP’s request has the signatures of 21 senators from the party, two from the Awami National Party (ANP), one from Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), two from erstwhile Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) and four members from Dilawar Khan’s independent group.

    To a query about what this would mean for the opposition alliance the fate of which was in the balance over the tussle now won by the PPP, she said it wasn’t the funeral of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) but a right of the PPP.

  • VIDEO: Zardari is life-long chairman of son-in-laws’ union, I am the general secy, says Capt (r) Safdar

    As both the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) reportedly pour in efforts to save the sinking ship of the opposition alliance amid growing differences, a statement by PML-N’s Capt (r) Muhammad Safdar has left netizens in fits of laughter.

    Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Safdar said the media shouldn’t expect him to comment over the straining relations between the PPP and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

    “[PPP chief] Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is like a brother to me while his father [and PPP co-chairperson] Asif Ali Zardari is the life-long president of the son-in-law’s union. I am the general secretary,” said the son-in-law of former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif.

    So, Safdar went on to say, he shared a lot of relations with the PPP leadership and wouldn’t give any statement.

    Earlier, his wife and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz also refused to answer a journalist’s query regarding reports of the PPP backstabbing the opposition alliance.

    ZARDARI & SAFDAR:

    The son of Hakim Ali Zardari, a landowner from Sindh, Zardari rose to prominence after his 1987 marriage to PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s daughter Benazir Bhutto, who became the PM of Pakistan after her election in 1988.

    After his wife’s assassination in 2007, Zardari, the new co-chairperson, led the PPP to victory in the 2008 general election.

    Safdar, on the other hand, married Maryam Nawaz in 1992 while he was serving as a captain in the Pakistan Army and had been the military secretary to then PM Nawaz Sharif.

    After retiring from the military, he joined the civil service. He joined politics after returning to Pakistan from exile in 2007 along with the Sharif family and is now a key PML-N leader.