KARACHI: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has decided to arrange an interaction between PPP Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto and Balochistan nationalist parties.
“We have an interaction with nationalist leaders in Balochistan and we’ll progress further,” Sardar Lashkari Raeesani, president of the PPP Balochistan chapter told the Daily Times at Karachi Press Club on Thursday.
He said he had recommended to the party leadership that the PPP’s think-tank should visit Balochistan and hold dialogue with nationalist leaders, adding that he was trying to arrange the dialogue in November.
“Finally, there will be a direct interaction between Bhutto and the nationalists,” he said, but was not certain on the timeframe of the moot.
Jehangir Badr, secretary general of the PPP, said, “The PPP has a clear policy about the provincial autonomy and the party’s Balochistan chapter has initiated interaction with nationalist parties there.”
He denied the impression that the PPP Punjab chapter had differences on some issues with other provincial chapters. “The Punjab chapter’s policy always remained identical with the policies of the other provincial chapters, including the controversial Kalabagh Dam project,” he added.
Lashkari Raeesani said that the PPP Balochistan chapter also opposed the Kalabagh Dam project and the construction of cantonments in Balochistan. He said the government’s apprehensions about terrorism in the PPP’s rallies were nothing but a plot to discourage the people from attending the rallies.
To a reporter’s question that should not the PPP be blamed for any mishap in its rallies it wanted to hold despite terror fears, Jehangir said, “Our lives were also dear to us and PPP leaders were also a target.”
He said Bhutto would address the people in Rawalpindi on November 9. Jehangir said the PPP never accepted the chief of army staff as president, and it held dialogue with the government to compel the chief of army staff (COAS) to resign from his seat.
He said, “It’s a historical fact that the PPP has never compromised with dictators.”
PPP still follows CoD: He said the PPP had not deviated from the Charter of Democracy (CoD) it singed with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. He said former premier Nawaz Sharif made the PPP dysfunctional in the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) after he formed the All Parties Democratic Movement. “We are not intolerant. We want all the democratic forces to move in one direction for restoration of true democracy.”
PPP Azad Jammu and Kashmir leaders alleged that the Punjab chief minister and the PML’s top leaders were involved in the embezzlement of earthquake relief funds.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=200711 2story_2-11-2007_pg7_19 |
