‘Opp stuck in drawing-room politics’

Staff Report

LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League (PML) is struggling for true democracy in the country while opposition parties’ politics is based on drawing-room conspiracies because they have no roots in the masses, said Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani at a press conference on Sunday.

Mr Durrani said the PML had set a new democratic tradition in Pakistan by supporting the nomination of Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz as the next prime minister.

He said he had observed that the opposition’s politics in Attock and Tharparkar constituencies was only limited to the media and it had failed to mobilise its voters. “Shaukat Aziz is enjoying the support of the people of both constituencies,” he said. He said the politics of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) was limited to foreign visits while the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) was involved in drawing-room politics.

Mr Durrani claimed the opposition would not be able to combine on a single platform in the future owing to their division over every issue.

Rejecting the opposition parties’ allegations of official protocol to Mr Aziz during the filing of nomination papers, the senator said there was no need to raise objections if Mr Aziz was accompanied by the prime minister, federal ministers and the chief ministers in both because “it was part of political and democratic norms”.

He said the opposition parties should kick off their election campaign instead of slinging baseless allegations at the ruling party. He claimed that this was the first time in the history of the country’s politics that the government was ruling the country after taking the president, the Senate and the National Assembly into confidence and had made Pakistan a respectable state in the world.

“Pakistan’s membership to the Asian Regional Forum, its major non-Nato ally status and successful abroad visits by President Musharraf indicate that the ruling party is running state affairs after taking into confidence the ruling coalition and the opposition,” Mr Durrani said.

To a question about bypassing Millat Party President Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari for the prime minister seat, the senator said it was the party’s decision as to who should contest the by-polls for the leadership of the lower house. Mr Durrani said he was a “staunch” supporter of the National Security Council because it was the solution to all democratic problems.

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