March 18, 2006	Saturday	Safar 17, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, March 17: Secretary general Pakistan Peoples Party Jehangir Badr on Friday assured that the PPP workers would have a say in key party decisions like granting of tickets to candidates.

He was speaking as chief guest at a workers convention organized by the AJK chapter of People’s Party. He said that parliamentary boards had been formed which have districts presidents and secretary of the party as their members. All decisions including awarding of party tickets would be taken with the consent of these parliamentary boards, he said. He said this was the first time that the decision-making had been devolved to lower levels.

Mr Badr blasted the turncoats and said that party had made them leaders but they betrayed the party and changed loyalties.

He said this was not the first time that such ‘lotas’ had deserted the party. There were people who left Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in his death cell and joined the opposite camp, he said adding: “But these people had very bad time later on.”

The PPP secretary-general claimed that the PPP had roots in in the masses. “The workers are pride for us. Workers, not leaders, are important for us,” he said.

He said that Benazir Bhutto would return before the next general elections. “When she decides to return nobody can stop her,” he said. Pakistan, he said, needed democracy and that was something which only PPP and Benazir could provide. “It is our party which can provide justice, democracy and ensure respect for rights.”

The PPP leader also highlighted some of the problems faced by the common man in Pakistan. He said the plethora of socio- economic problems in the country had proved that the writ of the incumbent government had long vanished. He also spoke about the problems of Kashmiri earthquake victims.

PPP Kashmir president Sahibzada Ishaq Zafar also attacked army generals for, what he said, dethroning democratically-elected governments. He said that the rulers tried to exterminate PPP, but their bid strengthened the party.

He also enumerated the problems being faced by the Kashmiris displaced by the last year earthquake. He blamed the government for its failure to properly rehabilitate these people. Huge amount of money has been collected in the name of earthquake victims but that amount is not being spent on their rehabilitation, he alleged. “We will hold the present rulers accountable for their fraud and embezzlement,” he said.