LAHORE: Hurt by desertions, particularly in Punjab, the PPP feels there should be some “principles” while accepting “absconders” of one party by others.

“No political party is abiding by any principle while accepting into its folds renegades of other parties,” lamented PPP central information secretary Chaudhry Manzoor.

“[Political] parties should adopt a code of conduct for taking into their respective folds deserters of other parties to help develop a true democratic culture and discourage opportunists in the country,” he suggested.

He said the parties that were labelling leaders of one entity as corrupt did not hesitate to embrace the same “corrupt” if and when they came to join them.

“One is corrupt in a particular party but becomes clean soon after joining the other group,” he said, referring to some PPP leaders accepted by the PTI.

Mr Manzoor also rejected as “flimsy” the excuses presented by the PPP deserters and urged them to feel some guilt while taking the “opportunistic” step. He claimed that one of the PPP renegades had come up with a complaint that the party did not support him in a case registered against his brother. Another wished that he should be allowed to support archrival PML-N in his constituency while remaining in the party fold.

“Despite this contradiction he was tolerated until he called it a day himself.”

Regarding claims made by some leaders that they were leaving the party for they could not defend alleged corruption by the leadership, Manzoor questioned why these individuals did not raise the issue when the PPP was in power and committing the so-called corruption.

“They enjoyed all perks and privileges they could while in power and are now accusing the same government of corruption?”

The deserters are in fact joining the PTI under the “false impression” that it will form the next government, he said.

Playing down the PPP desertions, Manzoor recalled that political figures much bigger than those leaving the party now had abandoned the PPP when Benazir took charge of the party in 1980s. “But, the late Ms Bhutto rebuilt the party strong enough that it came into power thrice since.”

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2017