LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party Senator Saeed Ghani has said the local elections in Punjab are not his party’s target.

“Our target is 2018 general elections and not the local polls in Punjab,” he told Dawn after attending a corner meeting at UC-236 in Green Town here on Saturday.

He said the PPP was making preparations for the 2018 elections and the local polls here would help achieve its target.

“We will try to perform well in the local elections but we are not clinging to false hope regarding the party’s success in this election,” he said.

Senator Ghani further said the party had committed some mistakes in the past but it was trying to reorganise the party and restoring its roots in the masses.

At the corner meeting, Mr Ghani said the government should dispel the impression that the army was more powerful than itself.

“In order to dispel the impression that the army is more powerful than the government, the prime minister should take all parties on board and speak to the army. Pakistan is facing terrorism and we need national coherence,” he said.

Flanked by PPP Lahore Information Secretary Faisal Mir, Senator Ghani said the National Accountability Bureau should not do selective accountability.

“The accountability should be across the board,” the senator said.

A number of PPP workers including women attended the meeting. The PPP senator and other speakers urged them to fully participate in the local elections and produce better results.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2015

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