LAHORE, Jan 8: The Pakistan People’s Party has no yet spelled out its policy after the resignation of Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan as ARD president.
Despite repeated contacts top party leaders are not ready to give a categorical reaction to Mr Munir Ahmed Khan’s recent meeting with the Nawabzada which, he claims, he held under instructions from incarcerated Asif Ali Zardari, the spouse of self-exiled PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto.
Mr Khan conveyed to the senior leader that the PPP wanted him to resume the chairmanship of the alliance so that the struggle for democracy could be re-started.
When a senior PPP leader was asked whether the party owned the views conveyed by Mr Munir Khan to the Nawabzada, he said: “It would have been better if he (Munir) had met the senior leader in consultation with the party”.
Another PPP leader said that Mr Munir met the Nawabzada in his personal capacity.
Apparently, this means that the PPP wants to distance itself from the initiative taken by Mr Munir Khan, who had worked for a number of parties before joining the PPP.
But, PPP leaders make the whole situation vague when they say: “We have tremendous regard for the Nawabzada. We want to resolve the matter (of his resignation) in a dignified manner”.
An important PPP leader said on Tuesday: “I am consulting various leaders of the ARD. We want to take a unanimous decision. We don’t want to leave any party. We have a positive approach. The irritant, which led to the crisis, will be removed”.
Asked about the PPP’s reaction to an ARD meeting requisitioned by some parties, he said a decision on the ARD’s future would be taken by all constituents collectively.
ARD Secretary-General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said he would hold consultations with ARD leaders on Wednesday to call an alliance meeting in Karachi on Jan 19 or 20.
Political observers, however, say that it will not be an easy task for the PPP to request the Nawabzada to take back his decision as ARD president and keep the alliance intact. They say that the Nawabzada is set to nominate a steering committee to decide a line of action to have the demands of the Dec 27 all-party conference implemented. The steering committee will comprise leaders of the same religious parties. The PPP is opposed to these religious parties and it did not attend the APC because of them.