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No deal with govt, says PPP

LAHORE: The Pakistan People’s Party has claimed that its negotiations with the government should not be called a deal, but a political strategy. It also said that opponents of the party were spreading rumours about the party entering a deal with the government. Ghulam Abbas, PPP secretary general, told Daily Times on Wednesday that political leaders were known to handle issues politically and that such handling could not be called dealing. He said, “Our stand is very clear. We don’t deal with men in uniform. In fact, the government wants out support. Negotiations are part of a political process and we are not denying this fact. This is why were are negotiating with parties that represent Pakistan’s political scene.” He said, “If the PPP has made a deal with the government, why would our workers be arrested? Sarmad Mansoor, one of our worker’s, was killed in jail. This proves that we are not wheeling and dealing with the government.” He said rumours of a deal were in fact the dual game being played by rivals of the PPP. “They are working to disintegrate the PPP, but our party is for the masses and its vote bank can’t be broken,” he added. He said disintegration within the Pakistan Muslim League was evident by the fact that 42 MNAs and eight senators voted in favour of the Hudood Ordinance. “This situation has tempted the party to pursue a policy of maligning the opposition to weaken them,” he added. He said President Pervez Musharraf was a dictator and only knew to control the people by force. He said this attitude had weakened civilian institutions. He also said the three assassination attempts on Musharraf from within the army indicated that officers were unhappy with him. “The only solution is to hold free and fair elections under the supervision of an acceptable interim government through the establishment of a free Election Commission. Otherwise the crisis in Pakistan will get even more intense and the situation can explode,” he added. hammad yassar

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