Sources in the party said that, after the Naudero meeting, Zardari is likely to visit Lahore in order to convene another important meeting with party leaders there. PHOTO: AFP
Speculation is no stranger to the former president, who has been the subject of much conjecture – particularly over the last five years. Much, if not all, of it has proven false.
Yet, when Asif Ali Zardari, also co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), left Pakistan for Dubai just days after his tenure as president ended in September, speculation began once again about him not returning. As the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into over a month, the rumours only grew stronger; and stronger still when an accountability court issued summons regarding reopened graft cases against him.
Bucking the speculation once again, former president Zardari will return to Pakistan today for Eid, and has summoned a high-level meeting of his party at Naudero House on October 17. Sources in the party told The Express Tribune that all senior leaders of the party, including senators, MNAs and MPAs from Sindh, have been invited to attend the meeting where important decisions are on the cards. “The reorganisation of the party in Sindh, upcoming local government elections and law and order situation would be discussed at the meeting,” a senior party leader said.
Zardari returns at a time that the PPP seems in flux, and talk of an impending reshuffle in the party’s top echelons has gained momentum. More importantly, however, he will also return in the face of the summons of an accountability court in connection with graft cases that were reopened last week. He has been asked to appear before the court on October 29 in relation to five references that had been on hold for years due to his holding of the office of president. Originally, the summons was for Monday, October 14. However, the court was informed that the president had not received the order, on which the date was changed to the end of the month.
It seems that the former president is ready to face the references. “Our leadership has already faced all sorts of cases and rendered all sorts of scarifies. We are not scared of these cases and will face them,” said PPP senior leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim when contacted on the matter.
Zardari will reportedly arrive with his daughters Bakhtawar and Aseefa. No senior party leader confirmed whether or not Bilawal would return with them. “We have no idea about Bilawal, but Zardari Sahib is coming back,” said Dr Sikandar Mandhro, PPP senior leader, who is also the minister for parliamentary affairs in Sindh. According to Mandhro, the performance of the provincial government would also be reviewed.
Soon after reports of Zardari’s arrival, security has been enhanced around Bilawal House in Karachi and Naudero.
Sources in the party said that, after the Naudero meeting, Zardari is likely to visit Lahore in order to convene another important meeting with party leaders there. “By December 27, the provincial level reorganisation of the party would be completed; important decisions would be made at the death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto in Garhi Khuda Bux where PPP’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting will be held to put in place the party’s high command,” one CEC members told The Express Tribune.
“Not only will the party elect its chairman and other top bodies, but we will restore the original PPP, which was banned during the general Pervez Musharraf tenure. This means the party will no more contest the upcoming general election under the banner of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP)” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2013.
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