KARACHI, Oct 5: The Pakistan People’s Party has announced that it has kept all options open as far as the presidential poll is concerned despite the resignations submitted by party legislators in Sindh.
This was stated by Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Nisar Khuhro while addressing a news conference on Friday afternoon following the Supreme Court’s ruling that the presidential election cannot be stayed but the results will not be notified until the final judgment on the constitutional petitions challenging Musharraf’s candidature has been announced.
Mr Khuhro said the candidacy of Makhdoom Amin Fahim illustrated the wisdom behind the party’s policy of keeping all options open. This, he added, was a proactive style of work in which the situation was carefully and objectively examined, discussed and then the correct decisions were taken at the right time.
Sources said the party would meet on Saturday at 9am to execute the guideline from its top leadership.
He said those criticising the PPP for a transition towards a civilian dispensation should look at their own track record. He said it was only due to PPP’s tactical moves that the general agreed on some vital points.
He said the current situation was a direct consequence of the 17th Amendment to which the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal had agreed and voted for in parliament. He said that even today the MMA’s role was dubious. In this context, he referred to the date the MMA had given for seeking the dissolution of the NWFP Assembly. He alleged that this was done deliberately to give the ruling party enough time to frustrate the dissolution bid, thus keeping the electoral college for the presidential election intact.
The PPP legislator said the party had always claimed that the cases against former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, instituted by former president Farooq Leghari and subsequent governments, were false and politically motivated. He said that in a very weak position and under a lot of public pressure the rulers had no option but to accept the truth and withdraw the false cases.
The PPP had made sure that the ordinance passed in this regard was not person-specific, he said, adding that the withdrawal of politically-motivated cases would cover all politicians, thus, putting an end to political victimization and blackmail.
Mr Khuhro rejected the perception that the Musharraf-PPP axis was being worked out to strengthen the coalition supporting American policies in the region. He said that the PPP had always been with the people of Pakistan and its leadership and the cadre had paid a heavy price for not submitting to foreign dictates.
