Executive committee meeting: Bilawal to kick off political career on Oct 18

Gathering at Mazar-e-Quaid will mark the anniversary of the Karsaz attack.


Hafeez Tunio September 29, 2014

KARACHI:


Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is set to officially kick off his political career with a massive rally on October 18 in Karachi, party leaders announced on Monday.


“The party has decided to organise a big public gathering at the Mazar-e-Quaid to commemorate the attack on Benazir Bhutto’s caravan upon her return to the country in 2007,” PPP leader and former premier Yousaf Raza Gilani told reporters after a meeting of the party’s central executive committee (CEC) at Bilawal House, Karachi.

“Bilawal, being the chairman of the party, will address the gathering and pick up the struggle to strengthen democracy and institutions from where it was left off by his mother,” he said. “All of us, who were with Benazir in her struggle, will stand by this young leader to reinforce the democratic dispensation in the country,” added Gilani who was flanked by other senior PPP leaders, including Khursheed Shah, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Sherry Rehman, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Qaim Ali Shah.

“PPP will flourish once again under Bilawal’s leadership, because he is the true representative of the country’s youth.”

Gilani’s comments were the first formal announcement about the much-touted launch of Bilawal’s political career. It came a day after the young PPP chairman apologised to party sympathisers for ‘mistakes committed in the past’.

“Bilawal wants to bring back all enraged PPP leaders. He has acknowledged the mistakes the party made in the past and realising that, he wants to reform and reorganise the party,” Gilani said at the press briefing. He added that old stalwarts who wished to rejoin PPP would be accommodated by the party leadership on various positions.

Talking about the CEC meeting at Bilawal House, Gilani said it had a single agenda – organising the October 18 rally to commemorate the Karsaz attack.

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said the planned gathering would be ‘historic’ and claimed PPP was still largest party in the country with strong roots in all four provinces along with Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

“Our young leadership, which is a reflection of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto, will now take over party affairs,” he said. “Bilawal will now step into the arena and start his political innings with the aim of reviving the mission envisaged by his grandfather and carried forward by his mother.”

Talking to The Express Tribune, sources in PPP said Bilawal has formed different committees to ensure the success of the October 18 rally. “We must show our actual strength at the gathering,” a source quoted Bilawal as saying.

Meanwhile, Gilani defended his party against allegations of being a ‘friendly opposition’ in parliament. “We are the actual opposition… PPP has always played the role of responsible opposition in parliament,” he said.

Talking about the PPP government’s performance, he said, “We worked hard and generated 3,400MW of electricity.”

“We could have done much more, but obstacles were created in our way to develop Pakistan,” Gilani added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2014.

COMMENTS (11)

Khalid | 9 years ago | Reply

why media is highlighting such non serious issues,, media is biased toward these dynasties, the are afraid of them..

Shahid | 9 years ago | Reply

@Roni: Go to Larkana and see what Bhuttos have done for their own people. You are so naive.

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