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| 09 May 2004 | Sunday | 18 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425 |
PPP annoyed at MNA's meeting with premier
ISLAMABAD, May 8: The leadership of the People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) is annoyed at MNA Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani for what it termed violating the party discipline by meeting Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on Saturday, sources told Dawn here on Saturday.
Sources said that the PPP MNA from Jacobabad had held a meeting with the prime minister at the Prime Minister's House here on Saturday without prior information to party chairperson Benazir Bhutto or president Makhdoom Amin Fahim.
Meanwhile, Mr Bijarani, while talking to Dawn denied having violated party discipline, saying the prime minister was a member of parliament and all MNAs had the right to meet him at any time. He cited recent examples, saying PPP president Makhdoom Amin Fahim and general secretary Raja Pervez Ashraf had also met the prime minister.
when asked if he had taken prior permission from the party's chairperson in this regard, Mr Bijarani said: "There is no need (for me) to seek prior permission from the party chairperson on such petty matters."
About the purpose of his meeting with the prime minister, the PPP MNA said that he had apprised Mr Jamali of the poor law and order situation in Sindh in general and in his constituency in particular. He said the number of kidnapping incidents had risen sharply in Jacobabad, Larkana and Shikarpur. Mr Bijarani said that he had also discussed with the prime minister some development plans in his constituency.
Meanwhile, sources in the PPP said the party had already served a show-cause notice on Mr Bijarani for holding a meeting with the prime minister in Karachi a few months ago. Besides this, they said, the MNA had also been asked to clarify his position at the Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting of the party.
They said the top party leaders did not trust Mr Bijarani keeping in view his past history, fearing he could defect the party at any time. Mr Bijarani remained in the federal cabinet both in the Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif governments.
Mr Bijarani also did not take part in the opposition's protest during the Gen Musharraf's address to the joint session of the parliament.
Sources said that the party high command was considering to take strict action against the MNA for violating the party discipline twice.
Mr Bijarani, however, denied that he had been issued any show-cause notice by the party.
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