December 04, 2006	Monday	Ziqa'ad 12, 1427

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

LAHORE, Dec 3: The Punjab PPP president claims that winds of change have started blowing, and the voters will throw the ruling PML out of power in the next election.

Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, addressing a reception in the constituency of MNA Aitzaz Ahsan in Mughalpura on Sunday evening, said if the elections were fair and transparent the Chaudhrys would not only lose Punjab, but also their own hometown Gujrat.

Aitzaz Ahsan, Qasim Zia, Azizur Rahman Chan, Altaf Qureshi, Naveed Chaudhry, Zakariya Butt, Sajida Mir and Uzma Bukhari also addressed.

Qureshi has consistently been targetting the Chaudhrys since he assumed his new responsibility in the party, and is determined to “liberate” Punjab from their control.

He said a number of MNAs and MPAs of the ruling party were contacting him with a desire to join the PPP. Already, he said, a PML MPA from Faisalabad had joined the PPP.

So far, he said, he had addressed three major public meetings and, despite all obstacles created by the rulers, had received a tremendous response. Now, he said, the government had started invoking Section 144 to disallow rallies which amply proved that it had got nervous.

Qureshi said although the government had disallowed the PPP to hold a rally in Sialkot on Tuesday, he would go ahead, defying all restrictions.

He said the Punjab chief minister was holding public meetings using the state resources after which he was left with no justification to disallow the PPP to get in contact with its supporters and followers.

Referring to the results of the 2002 elections, the PPP leader said his party had got the highest number of votes compared to all rivals despite the fact that Ms Benazir Bhutto was out of the country. He said the situation would turn further in favour of the PPP in the 2007 elections as Ms Bhutto would not only return but also lead the campaign.

Qureshi said the chief minister had made changes in his cabinet and inducted a number of more ministers in a lame attempt at improving his position. He said such steps would no longer be of any help to the rulers as the situation was changing fast.

He said he would visit all 25 party zones in Lahore to prepare the workers for an unprecedented welcome to Ms Bhutto on her return to Pakistan.

MNA Aitzaz Ahsan defended the PPP’s support to the women’s rights bill, and said it should not be taken as backing to Gen Musharraf or an attempt to strike a deal with him.

The PPP, he said, could support even more laws proposed by the present rulers to give the women their due rights as the party was committed to giving the women all their rights. But, he said, the party policy about the general would remain unchanged. “We are not for a deal.”

Referring to the criticism that the PPP had failed to amend the Hudood ordinances during its own tenures, Aitzaz Ahsan said during both the stints of Ms Bhutto the party did not have majority in the Senate which was mandatory to pass any law.