Factional feud: Wattoo lambasts Naheed and Safdar

Says they will lose political relevance.

LAHORE:

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Punjab president Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo on Thursday slammed former PPP leaders’ Safdar Abbasi and Naheed Khan decision to float a new political party.

He was speaking to PPP officials and activists on the occasion of Begum Nusrat Bhutto’s death anniversary. Wattoo said the decision would lead them into a political wilderness.  He praised Nusrat Bhutto’s services for democracy. Wattoo said she had stood up to former president Ziaul Haq and led the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy.



He said Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had started his political career with a successful rally in Karachi. Wattoo said he had resolved to support the underprivileged sections of society.

He said the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) should not have parted ways with the PPP government in Sindh as Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Kurshid Shah had apologised for his remarks believed to have hurt the MQM’s sensibilities.

Wattoo said the MQM had misconstrued Zardari’s speech too. He said the PPP was striving to overcome differences between the two parties. Wattoo said pragmatism would make it necessary for the PPP and the MQM to reconcile their differences.

He welcomed Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri’s decision to end the sit-in at Islamabad’s D-Chowk and urged the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) to follow suit.

He said staging sit-ins was a futile exercise and the events had vindicated the PPP’s stance. Wattoo said the PTI should try to resolve outstanding issues in the National Assembly.

PPP leaders Tanvir Ashraf Kaira, Afnan Butt, Mian Ayub and Manzoor Maneka were also present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2014.