Ex-CM lays to rest speculation about rift

Qaim says nobody from the party was angry with the leadership.

SUKKUR:

Former provincial chief minister and head of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (Sindh chapter) Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Thursday quashed rumours of a rift within the party’s top leadership.

Qaim was speaking to the media after the party wrapped up a function marking the 34th death anniversary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. All commemorative events scheduled this year were moved to Naudero House from Garhi Khuda Bux. The town was swamped with leaders and workers of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from Sukkur and Larkana divisions.

Rumours of a rift surfaced when the former minister for religious affairs, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, left Naudero House well ahead of the speeches given by President Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto. Qaim, however, said that nobody from the party was angry with the leadership.

Former interior minister Rehman Malik also clarified the matter to media persons and said that Khursheed Shah left early because he had to prepare documents for scrutiny of his nomination papers.

Sources also said that Khursheed Shah’s nephew and son-in-law, Awais Qadir Shah, was barred from entering Naudero House and had to return to Sukkur. “This shows that there is something wrong between Khursheed Shah and the party’s high command,” sources said.

Observers also noted that President Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto visited the mausoleum separately. To this, Qaim said that there were no differences between the father and son and security compulsions were entirely to blame.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2013.