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Govt warned against meddling in Zardari welcome plans

Staff Report

LAHORE: The Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) on Saturday warned the government of resistance if it meddled with plans to welcome Asif Ali Zardari on April 16.

The party’s provincial office-bearers issued the warning during an inter-provincial meeting of party officials at the PPPP Faisal Town office. PPPP Punjab president Qasim Zia chaired the meeting. This was the first meeting of the party’s all provincial office-bearers.

A warm reception awaits Zardari, Zia said, adding it would be a reflection of the 1986 welcome accorded to Benazir Bhutto. The PPPP never compromised on principles, as Zardari showed by staying behind bars for eight years, he said. The reception route will not be changed and no hurdle will be tolerated, Qasim said.

The government has failed to check social evils, the PPPP leader said, adding that his party was fighting for justice and constitutional rights. The party is united under the leadership of Benazir Bhutto, he stressed.

The struggle of Zardari is a milestone in the political history of the country, PPPP Sindh president Syed Qaim Ali Shah said. Many people from Sindh will arrive in Lahore to welcome Zardari, he said. Dozens of PPPP leaders and workers have been arrested in ‘fake cases’, he said.

Only the PPPP can rid the country of social evils, PPPP NWFP president Rahimdad Khan said. The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal had done nothing for the province. Instead corruption has increased manifold, he said. Fresh elections are inevitable. He said around 40,000 people from NWFP would arrive in Lahore to welcome Zardari.

There is no democracy in the country and a dictator is ruling the nation, PPPP Balochistan president Nawab Lashkri Raisani said. Unemployment, poverty and inflation are going unchecked, he said, adding corrupt people were sitting on government benches.

Worship places are being attacked and even courts have failed to provide relief to the aggrieved masses, the PPPP leader said.

Kashmiris want a strong Pakistan, PPPP AJK president Sahibzada Ishaq Zafar said, adding the PPPP was the only party that could steer the country out of crisis. He said people had lost confidence in the government. The nation faces a surge in prices every 15 days, the Kashmiri leader added.

Nafees Siddiqui, PPPP Sindh general secretary, Dr Fehmida Mirza, information secretary, Chaudhry Yaseen, PPPP AJK general secretary, and Matloob Inquilabi, information secretary, also attended the meeting. Farzana Raja, a Punjab Assembly member, and Azizur Rehman Chan, PPPP Lahore president, attended the meeting as special guests.

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