PPP distances itself from resignation demand

Distancing itself from the government’s demand of seeking resignation from Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Pakistan Peoples Party has called for a consultation process on the issue, clarifying that the demand as well as moving a reference was not of the entire coalition but the PML-N alone.

“The three-member decision is not worth the paper it is written on. If the CJP cannot get his court in order and remedy this mockery of justice then perhaps he should allow someone else to take the responsibility of CJP,” PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on his official Twitter handle.

Special Assistant to PM Qamar Zaman Kaira told The Express Tribune that Bilawal’s statement in no way means that the PPP endorses the PML-N’s demand.

A meeting of the PPP core committee was held on Friday evening at Zardari House in Islamabad, which was presided over by PPPP President Asif Ali Zardari and PPP Chairman Bilawal and attend by senior party leaders.

“Shutting the door to dialogue is not the solution. For this purpose, the party has decided to approach all the parties in the coalition government for taking a joint position on the issue of dialogue among the political parties,” a statement issued after the meeting quoted Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians Secretary General Farhatullah Babar as saying.

According to the statement, the party said that the crisis was the result of numerous reasons not the least of which was the insistence that minority court verdict should take precedence over the majority one. “This position is untenable legally, morally and politically and needs to be reviewed.”

The meeting was attended by Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah, former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, senior party leaders Nayyar Bukhari, Naveed Qamar, and Raza Rabbani, Special Assistant to PM Qamar Zaman Kaira, Sherry Rehman, Shazia Marri, Nisar Khuro, Muhammad Ali Shah Bacha, Humayun Khan, Information Secretary Faisal Karim Kundi, Akhunzada Chattan and Babar.

Earlier in the day, the information minister held a news conference demanding the resignation of the CJP, claiming in view of the purported slit decision of Justice Bandial on the Punjab election case, the CJP had now become controversial, warranting his resignation.

PML-N Senior Vice President and Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz in a series of tweets against the CJP accused him of committing flagrant violation of law and Constitution in order to benefit the PTI, demanding him to resign and again reminded the government to file a reference against the CJP and other judges.

Kaira told The Express tribune that they were a coalition partner of the PML-N and had their independent party position on all issues surrounding the matter of state and politics. “In some instances, all allied parties share the same opinion while in others, they have their differences.”

He said in this instance, the PPP did not share the same opinion as that of the PML-N, however, “we are not opposing it either”.

He said that the PPP also did not see eye to eye with the PML-N on the issue of moving a reference against judges.

He said, “We want to consult with other parties in the alliance to form a consensus on these issues.” He said that all allied parties did not share the same opinion on the issue of demanding resignation from CJ or moving a reference, which was why the PPP believed that formulating a joint opinion would be in the best interest of the government.