Sidelined?: Altaf-Qadri friendship irks PPP
Soon after MQM-MQI rally addressed by Qadri, Altaf Hussain, PPP leaders held meeting with President Zardari.
Soon after MQM-MQI rally addressed by Qadri, Altaf Hussain, PPP leaders held meeting with President Zardari. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) support for the “million-man march” being organised by Minhajul Quran International (MQI) seems to have had a direct impact on the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Signs of anger and frustration surfaced on Tuesday as PPP leaders suggested to party co-chairman President Asif Ali Zardari to revisit the controversial Sindh Peoples Local Government System 2012.
Sources in the Pakistan Peoples Party told The Express Tribune that soon after the MQM-MQI rally, which was addressed by Tahirul Qadri and Altaf Hussain, PPP leaders held a meeting with President Zardari.
The meeting was followed by Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s visit to Bilawal House where the president and co-PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was also present. Sources revealed that the president asked PPP leaders to go ahead with the amendments and pursue the enraged Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F)leadership, Sindhi nationalists and other groups.
All Sindhi nationalist parties have already announced that they will not participate in Qadri’s long march. Sources said that soon after the meeting, the Sindh chief minister directed law and local government departments to look into the matter and start “homework” on the local government system again.
However, sources said that the final decision will be made after the long march.
A senior official in the law department said that they had been given directives to revisit the local government law following the Supreme Court’s remarks in the case.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 2nd, 2013.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) support for the “million-man march” being organised by Minhajul Quran International (MQI) seems to have had a direct impact on the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Signs of anger and frustration surfaced on Tuesday as PPP leaders suggested to party co-chairman President Asif Ali Zardari to revisit the controversial Sindh Peoples Local Government System 2012.
Sources in the Pakistan Peoples Party told The Express Tribune that soon after the MQM-MQI rally, which was addressed by Tahirul Qadri and Altaf Hussain, PPP leaders held a meeting with President Zardari.
The meeting was followed by Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s visit to Bilawal House where the president and co-PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was also present. Sources revealed that the president asked PPP leaders to go ahead with the amendments and pursue the enraged Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F)leadership, Sindhi nationalists and other groups.
All Sindhi nationalist parties have already announced that they will not participate in Qadri’s long march. Sources said that soon after the meeting, the Sindh chief minister directed law and local government departments to look into the matter and start “homework” on the local government system again.
However, sources said that the final decision will be made after the long march.
A senior official in the law department said that they had been given directives to revisit the local government law following the Supreme Court’s remarks in the case.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 2nd, 2013.