June 30, 2003	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 29,1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, June 29: Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPP) on Sunday urged the government to hold dialogue with party’s chairperson Benazir Bhutto to help improve the domestic political situation.

This was resolved in the PPP’s parliamentary party meeting, which was presided over by its president Amin Fahim here.

The meeting also urged the government to allow Benazir to return to Pakistan.

Briefing journalists about the outcome of the meeting, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the meeting had decided to send references under Article 63-A of the Constitutions to the National Assembly speaker and the chief election commissioner seeking unseating of the breakaway Patriot Group for defying the party’s discipline.

The meeting also finalized the constitution of a formal organizational set up of PPP with the approval of Benazir Bhutto.

Amin Fahim will head the new party structure in which Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Raja Pervez Ashraf have been nominated as deputy leaders.

Khurshid Shah will be the party’s chief whip while Pir Aftab Shah Jillani and Nayyar Bokhari will act as deputy whips for Sindh and Punjab, respectively. From the women side, Ms Shugufta Jumani and Belam Hasnain have been nominated as deputy whips for Sindh and Punjab, respectively.

The business advisory committee has also been enlarged, which will now include Naveed Qamar, Khurshid Shah, Aitzaz Ahsan and Rameesh Lal.

Criticizing the deputy speaker, he said that the his conduct during the debate on the no-trust motion was contrary to the parliamentary traditions.

Stressing the need to take advantage of Benazir’s experience, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that in view of the ever-changing regional situation when Pakistan-India dialogue was about to start, leaders like Benazir, who command respect and following among the masses should be involved in the process.

The meeting also expressed concern over the white paper released by the Pakistan Bar Council on judiciary.

He said that the party would attend the all-parties conference on July 6 after finalizing its agenda.