RAWALPINDI: Appointments to the local PPP cantonment chapter have created unrest among party workers, who have threatened agitation if the party does not undo the move.

The party appointed Malik Zaheer Arshad president and Malik Qasim Adress general secretary of to the cantonment half of the recently bifurcated local chapter last week, against the wishes of the party workers. In response, the workers met at a local hotel on Sunday night, led by Haji Gulzar Awan, and decided to protest.

A senior party leader told Dawn the new office bearers were appointment on the recommendation of former PPP MNA from the cantonment area Zammrud Khan, who is not active in politics.

He said the former MNA wanted to make an alliance with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) during the local government elections, but the PTI refused. His supporters then contested the elections as independent candidates, and did not get PPP tickets.

The party leader added that a local PPP leader, Babu Adrees, joined the PTI due to internal politics, and many workers have also drifted to other parties after being ignored.

A long-time PPP worker, Sajid Kaleem, told Dawn the party workers have decided to launch a movement against the party leadership’s decision, and would hold a protest in this regard.

He said party workers had long demanded that the cantonment organisation be separated from the city organisation, which the party leadership accepted, but then appointed people who were unknown to the workers.

Mr Kaleem expressed serious concern over the leadership appointing a president and general secretary to the PPP Rawalpindi Cantonment Body without consulting the party workers.

A senior local party leader said: “The newly appointed office bearers have no link to the real workers. They were given power against the will of the workers, which will harm the party.”

He said PPP Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira assured the workers he would not promote friendships and all decisions would be merit-based, but did not keep the promise.

He said a 10 person committee led by Malik Mohammad Siddique will devise the agitation programme, adding: “We shall not accept the PPP Punjab leadership’s undemocratic decision and will raise our voice against this decision at all levels to protect our party from destruction.”

Malik Majid, a local PPP leader from the Chaklala cantonment, said the Chaklala cantonment was ignored in the new organisation, and the party should review its decision.

He said the party did not consult workers before making the decision. “The party remembers the workers when they are in jails and need help to launch protest campaigns, and after leaving the jails they appoint business tycoons as party leaders and ignore the workers,” he said.

Published in Dawn February 16th, 2017