PPP vows to fight back bullies

President Zardari asks comrades to stay united and come up with a befitting response to propaganda against the govt.

ISLAMABAD: The top leadership of the embattled ruling Pakistan Peoples Party on Friday decided to adopt an aggressive posture and fight back with full might all the moves to bully the government.

“President Zardari asked his comrades to stay firm and united and come up with a befitting response to the propaganda against the government,” a participant of a high-level meeting convened by President Asif Zardari told The Express Tribune.

The meeting held at the presidency was co-chaired by President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to take stock of the situation amid rumours of a regime change in the country. It also discussed the pros and cons of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif’s recent statements suggesting mid-term elections. The meeting also discussed what the participants called negative propaganda against the government in a section of the media. Attendees included around 40 federal ministers, ministers of state and advisers.

“We don’t want a confrontation with anyone but if we are pushed to the wall, we will retaliate with full might,” another participant quoted President Zardari as saying during the question-answer session after the meeting. Zardari also directed the ministers and key government functionaries to aggressively respond to all negative campaigns in a section of the media.  “We have not achieved democracy in a begging bowl and we have to defend it through all means,” he said.

The meeting decided that the party will be reorganised across the country and the process would start from Balochistan where the party’s organisational set-up is currently in suspension.

Presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said the meeting also adopted a resolution reposing full confidence in the leadership of PPP co-chairperson Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

The meeting reviewed the progress made by the government, the challenges faced by it and the way forward and resolved to continue making strides to strengthen democracy and address the problems faced by the people, he added.

Babar said the president in his opening remarks asked the participants not to be deterred by the negative propaganda against the government. Babar said, “The meeting also resolved that democracy, the parliament and the unanimous constitutional amendments adopted by the parliament last April will be defended at all costs”.

In his press statement issued after the meeting, the presidential spokesperson further said that the meeting noted that despite challenges and hurdles in its way the government has successfully steered the country out of difficulties and made significant achievements on political and economic fronts as well as in the fight against militancy.

President Zardari also thanked the international community for its help in the flood catastrophe but said that “we also have to help ourselves to gain the confidence and credibility of international donors.”

For this, he said, we have to generate indigenous resources and then look towards the international community for greater assistance.

He asked the government to pursue vigorously the issue of market access with the European Union and the United States.

He described Thursday’s development where European leaders agreed to grant limited trade concessions to Pakistan to help it overcome the impact of devastating floods as very positive. It has raised the confidence level of Pakistan to achieve the objective of market access, he added.

The president said that the international community has realised that a stable, democratic and prosperous Pakistan was a key to addressing global issues such as counter-terrorism, non-proliferation and counter-narcotics, etc.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2010.