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LAHORE, Jan 14: PPP candidates for the Senate declared under oath on Tuesday that after being elected to the Upper House of parliament, they would stay loyal to Ms Benazir Bhutto and the party.
They swore allegiance at the office of the Punjab Assembly opposition leader in the presence of Qasim Zia, Ms Naheed Khan and some legislators.
Party leaders say now nobody elected on the PPP ticket will be able to change loyalty.
Some 20 MNAs who had won the election on PPP tickets subsequently formed a new faction, P-5, and joined hands with the ruling PML-Q. Though many of the defectors got ministries, their parent party got weakened.
Those who are now honour-bound not to switch loyalty after being elected to the Senate are Sardar Lateef Khosa, Mohammad Akbar, Ehsanul Haq Paracha, Dr Nisar, Shaikh Rashid, Abdul Qadir Shaheen, Sajjad Bukhari, Munawwar Anjum and Sajida Mir.
Qasim Zia told a reporter that the PML-N would support the PPP candidate on technocrat’s seat, while the PPP would support the PML-N candidate on a woman seat.
He said Taj Langah had been given PPP ticket for byelection because he had joined the party.
ARD: An ARD leader on Tuesday rejected a NAB argument that cases against various pro-government leaders had been sent back by the court and not withdrawn by the government.
In a press statement, deputy information secretary Munir Ahmed Khan said the NAB owed an explanation to the nation who had taken back the default case against the prime minister; and why the government was still pursuing cases against Ms Bhutto and her spouse even after attorney-general’s statement before the Supreme Court that they were politically-motivated; who had shelved 21 inquiries against former president Farooq Leghari; who was responsible for suspending proceedings to declare industries minister Liaquat Jatoi, a proclaimed offender; why was the default case against commerce minister Humayun Akhtar Khan withdrawn; and who had ordered that main accused of the cooperatives scandal should not be arrested.
