January 09, 2007	Tuesday	Zilhaj 18, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 8: People’s Party Parliamentarians’s top leadership is in Dubai to discuss with the party chairperson Benazir Bhutto the strategy for the all parties conference called by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif in London next month, informed sources in the PPP told Dawn.

The sources said that PPP president and ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim, secretary-general Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, deputy secretary-general and opposition leader in the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani, information secretary Sherry Rehman, PPP Punjab president Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Senator Dr Safdar Abbasi and Naheed Khan had reached Dubai.

They would also discuss besides APC the strategy for the next general elections.

The meeting is taking place amid contradictory reports coming from the government as well as the opposition parties that the PPP was about to strike a deal with the Musharraf regime before the next general elections. Moreover, the differences between the PPP and the PML-N, the major components of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), have also come to the surface on the issue of participation in the general elections, if held under Gen Musharraf.

The sources in the PPP said that Ms Bhutto had convened the meeting of senior leaders to review the party’s relationship with other opposition parties, particularly with the PML-N.

They further said the meeting could also continue on Wednesday as the PPP leaders were also expected to finalise a provisional list of the possible party candidates for the next general elections.

When contacted, a spokesman for Ms Bhutto former senator Farhatullah Babar expressed his ignorance about the agenda of the Dubai meeting. He, however, confirmed that the PPP had not yet made any decision regarding participation or otherwise in the proposed APC.

He said the decision was expected in a couple of days. Giving a policy statement about the party’s future election strategy, Mr Babar said the decision to award party tickets for the elections would be decided by the parliamentary board headed by Ms Bhutto herself.

He denied some press reports that the PPP had decided not to award party tickets to those who lost the 2002 elections with big margins. He said the PPP would take into consideration previous election results, the seniority of the member, the extent of rigging etc before making a decision.