KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has asked all the five provincial coordination committees to complete the party’s reorganisation process at district level at the earliest, as the country’s situation indicates that a movement will have to be launched against the federal government in the coming days.

The directive was issued by the party chief on Saturday while presiding over a meeting at the Bilawal House that was attended besides coordination committee members by MNA and president of the PPP’s women wing Faryal Talpur and Qamar Zaman Kaira as special invitees.

The meeting reviewed the party’s reorganisation affairs in detail and also had a threadbare discussion on the overall political scenario to prepare itself to steer the country out of the crises of Panama papers, loadshedding, price hike, unemployment and other pressing issues.

PPP sees joint movement against govt soon

While briefing the media at the PPP media cell about the decisions taken at the meeting, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Maula Bux Chandio said that after hearing the detailed report from the respective party coordinators, the PPP chairman directed them to complete the process within a given deadline.

He said the country was facing some serious issues such as Panama Papers, accountability and power loadshedding, particularly in rural areas of Sindh where the power supply remained suspended for 18 to 12 hours a day. If the government did not correct its direction, the PPP would have to demonstrate its strength not only in the four provinces but also in Gilgit-Baltistan, he added.

Mr Kaira said the PPP seriously considered that there were many issues which the government had failed to solve.

In reply to a question, he said there was consensus among opposition parties on the issue of the Panama Papers and their efforts were to maintain their consensus on all other issues faced by the nation.

When his attention was drawn towards PTI chief Imran Khan’s announcement that his party had decided to launch a decisive movement against the government after Eid, Mr Chandio said that a solo flight amounted to harming the unity of the opposition.

In reply to yet another question, Mr Kaira said the government was not serious in settling the terms of reference for the Panama inquiry commission and despite accommodation of the government’s point of view, the government attitude was stubbornly arrogant and if the situation deteriorated the government would be responsible.

Asked how much time the election commission would take to decide the references filed against the government, Mr Kaira said the completion of the election commission was the constitutional responsibility and hoped that the government would complete this process.

In response to a question, he said it was more than a month that the government was operational in the absence of the prime minister who had gone abroad for medical treatment. He hoped that soon he would return home.

Mr Kaira said it was not necessary that all opposition parties who were united on Panama Papers continued their cooperation on all issues, as every party had its own point of view on the issues confronting the country and they too would like to carry forward their point of view. But efforts would be made to unite the opposition parties on some points, he added.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2016