Show of unity: PPP, PML-Q will contest Senate elections together

Party leaders attack PTI and reach out to PML-N at lunch ceremony in honour of the Chaudhrys.

LAHORE:

Sunday lunch is often the meatiest of the week. It was no different in Lahore on Sunday during a lunch ceremony arranged by the Pakistan Peoples Party for the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid.

The gathering turned into a heavy affair, after leaders lashed out at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and sent a message of reconciliation to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. Of most importance, however, was a statement that the two parties would contest the Senate elections together.

The Federal Investigation Agency’s former additional director general Ahmad Riaz Sheikh, who was sacked after a Supreme Court ruling, organised the event. Senior leaders from both parties as well as their workers attended.

PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s words were of most significance. Shujaat said that his party and the PPP would go jointly into the Senate elections. Commenting on President Asif Zardari’s television interview on Saturday, he advised the president not to use the word ‘main’. He also said that the PML-N would only remain in the Punjab – and, regarding former president Pervez Musharraf, said there was no reason he could not come to Pakistan.

Sheikh and his family held the lunch to celebrate the acquittal of Moonis Elahi in the NICL corruption case. Along with Shujaat, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain and their families were all present.

PPP Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, PPP Punjab President Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, PPP General Secretary Jahangir Badar, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s son Abdul Qadir Gilani, PPP Federal Minister for Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Manzoor Ahamad Watto were among the PPP leaders present at the ceremony at an upmarket hotel.

In addition to the Chaudhrys being honoured, Sheikh Riaz announced the launch of his news channel ‘Capital’. It was also the first time that workers from both parties had jointly interacted at a public event. This is a significant development, given that it was assumed the party workers from the PPP and PML-Q do not always see eye-to-eye.

A few participants, while describing the significance of the event, said that the joint sitting showed the future course of the politics of both alliance partners, who were considered worst enemies in the past but are now firmly working together.

Interestingly, the participants’ speeches were dominated by remarks against PTI chief Imran Khan’s demand that assets be declared.

Watto said that politicians usually showed their assets before contesting the election and after the election – and every year they submitted their return papers to the Election Commission of Pakistan. He added that the PPP is going to introduce a transparent accountability system which would silence all critics in this regard.

PPP MPA Abdul Qadir Gilani demanded that judges and generals show their assets as well. Jahangir Badar said the PPP’s reconciliation process with political parties would be ongoing – and added that the party wanted to negotiate with the PML-N on every issue.

Punjab Governor Khosa said that laws should be made which penalise those who institute fake cases. He said that Moonis’ acquittal from the courts should be accepted, and demanded to know who was responsible for his nine months imprisonment.

PML-Q’s Shujaat Hussain wondered why those who raised the slogans of ‘Rule of Law’ did not also mention the lower courts which exonerated Moonis from the NICL case. He added that  Moonis was determined to face the courts and clear his name.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2012.