Tahirul Qadri, Zardari to meet again to discuss APC, Model Town report

PPP, PAT leaders discuss plan of action on the phone; finalise meeting

LAHORE: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is all set to meet Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri at PAT Secretariat on Friday.

The meeting is aimed to deliberate and finalise plan of the PAT-led all parties’ conference on Model Town carnage in the wake of the release of the Model Town inquiry report. Earlier, this meeting was scheduled to take place on Thursday (today) but now it has been re-scheduled owing to the pressing engagements of PPP co-chairman.



It will be the second meeting between the two leaders this month. Earlier, PPP co-chairman met with Qadri in Lahore on December 7, where he threw his weight behind Qadri’s demand seeking resignations of Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah by December 31 in view of their alleged involvement in the Model Town massacre in which at least 14 members of the PAT were killed in June 2014.

Though the two leaders have already discussed the Model Town inquiry tribunal report and the upcoming APC during a telephonic conversation, they will finalise a joint plan of action in Friday’s meeting.

PPP Central Executive Committee (CEC), in its recent meeting held in Nudero House on Tuesday, has already given a go-ahead to Zardari’s participation in the PAT-led APC. The meeting also decided that PPP senior leaders, including opposition leader Syed Khursheed Shah, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Rehman Malik, will accompany Zardari in Friday’s meeting.

Political pundits believe Zardari-Qadri meeting has great significance as it is considered as an attempt to gather two arch-rivals, Zardari and Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, on one platform to give a tough time to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ahead of the 2018 general elections.



On Tuesday, Imran Khan pledged his party’s unconditional support to the PAT’s quest for justice in the Model Town carnage case. Addressing a joint news conference on Tuesday, Khan termed the incident an ‘issue [of seeking justice] for the entire country, not just PAT’. He said he came here with his team to reassure the PAT and Qadri that the PTI and people of Pakistan are with them. Whatever decision PAT takes, PTI will stand alongside it, he maintained.

Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) chief Mustafa Kamal has also accepted Qadri’s invitation to attend the APC that is expected to be held in Lahore on December 30 though a final date is yet to be announced. Mushaikh Azzam President Pir Khawaja Attaullah Taunsvi has also assured Qadri of attending the APC called against the incumbent government.

Earlier, Qadri has repeatedly warned Sharif and Sanaullah to step down from their positions, in light of the Model Town judicial commission report and surrender before law enforcing agencies by December 30.