LAHORE: The PPP will once again rise in Punjab under the leadership of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, said party leaders at a function held in connection with the birth anniversary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto at Bilawal House here on Tuesday.

PPP Punjab President Manzoor Wattoo said the party had decided to play the role of a vibrant opposition. He said those saying PPP was finished in Punjab were living in a fool’s paradise. He said he had asked Bilawal to constitute his team and spend some time in Punjab.

Wattoo said those raising slogans of ‘Naya Pakistan’ must remember that Z.A. Bhutto was the one who had made a new Pakistan. He said Bhutto had united the Islamic world and made defence of Pakistan stronger by building an atomic bomb.

Jehangir Badr said no grouping within the party was acceptable. He said the PPP had faced the “gang of four” in difficult times and was ready to face them today also.

Navid Chaudhry, Makhdoom Ahmed Mahmood, Samina Khalid Ghurki, Aslam Gill and Altaf Qureshi also spoke on the occasion.

Meanwhile, the PPP chairman in a greeting letter to Supreme Court Bar Association President Barrister Syed Ali Zafar expressed hope that the bar would strive for constitutionalism, rule of law and institutional balance in the country.

“The legal fraternity has always played pivotal role in every struggle from the independence of judiciary to the restoration of democracy. Contributions of legal fraternity are immense and both bar and bench need to work together for more reforms so that jurisprudence is seen as universal and across the board in the country,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2016