11 April 2005	Monday	01 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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PESHAWAR, April 10: Pakistan People’s Party has requested the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal to re-schedule its protest rally fixed for Saturday, the day Asif Ali Zardari is arriving in Lahore from Dubai. Talking to journalists at the residence of Sardar Ali Khan, a former MNA from Pabbi, PPP Secretary-General Jehangir Badr said he had talked to MMA leader Liaquat Baloch by telephone, requesting him not to organize their rally on Saturday.

Earlier, Mr Badr had spoken to party’s office-bearers, members of provincial council, district presidents, secretaries, MPAs and leaders of the women wing, briefing them about the programmes for welcoming Mr Zardari.

The meeting decided to take ‘a motorcade of over 1,000 vehicles’ to Lahore on Saturday.

The PPP leader hoped that the Punjab government would not impede their programme, saying that welcoming rallies would help in creating a better political culture in Pakistan.

Jehangir Badr said PPP was capable of managing a peaceful event in Lahore.

The PPP secretary-general denied his party had had a deal with the government.

The PPP had rendered unprecedented sacrifices since its founding, and never struck a deal with the ‘usurpers’, Mr Badr added.

He said the PPP would prefer to sit in the opposition benches rather than coming into power from a backdoor.

The PPP, however, had been in contact with the government for the last five years because it knew the importance of negotiations in politics, the PPP leader said.

Mr Badr said the PPP believed in the power of the people who had brought the party to power thrice.

“The PPP represents the lower and middle-class people of Pakistan, and it is unfair to say that the party represents feudal lords,” he added.