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| October 10, 2006 | Tuesday | Ramazan 16, 1427 |
PPP-govt ‘contact’ makes waves
ISLAMABAD, Oct 9: Diplomats from major countries based in Islamabad on Monday had an informal discussion with leaders of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), on prevailing political situation in the country with particular reference to the reports of fresh contacts between the PPP and the Musharraf regime.
The diplomats got the chance to know the viewpoints of the two mainstream political parties, which had ruled the country twice, at an Iftar-dinner hosted by PPP president Makhdoom Amin Fahim and chairman of the party’s Foreign Liaison Committee Senator Enver Baig.
Although it was an Iftar party, which is mainly hosted for the diplomats from Muslim countries, it was attended by high commissioners and ambassadors from many western countries, including the UK, France, Italy and Spain.
The diplomats kept on inquiring from the PPP leaders about the nature of their contacts with the Musharraf regime and the issues being discussed and finalized in the meetings. The PPP leaders, however, kept on denying having any direct contact with the regime, saying there were few contacts in the recent past from “backdoor channels” and these could not be taken as the party was holding negotiations with the regime. Some of the diplomats were of the view that there could be early elections in the country if the PPP and the Musharraf regime reached any understanding on the issues.
Not a siongle leader from the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) was present in the meeting, which was also noticed by the guests. When contacted, a senior PPP leader said the MMA leadership was not invited to the gathering.
Former chairman of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) Lt-Gen (retd) Abdul Qayyum was also the centre of attraction for many of the participants due to the ongoing controversy on the privatization of the PSM and later its annulment by the Supreme Court.
Prominent among the diplomats who attended the dinner were ambassadors and high commissioners of the UK, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Egypt, Morocco, UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Libya and the political head of the US Embassy. The dinner was also attended by senior journalists and some of the retired bureaucrats.
Prominent political leaders present on the occasion were PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq, secretary general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, opposition leader in the Senate Raza Rabbani, PPP secretary general Raja Pervez Ashraf, former senator Farhatullah Babar, PPP Punjab president Qasim Zia, PPP Punjab information secretary Farzana Raja, ARD parliamentary secretary Izhar Amrohvi, Naveed Chaudhry, PML-N Islamabad president Dr Tariq Chaudhry and PPP MNAs Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed, Fauzia Wahab and Zamarud Khan were among those politicians who attended the function.
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