ISLAMABAD – President Asif Ali Zardari Saturday told the outgoing ministers of the PPP that he had asked his “trusted friends” to offer sacrifice and was proud that they rose to the occasion.
He expressed these views in a meeting with Qamar Zaman Kaira, Pir Aftab Shah Jilani, Sardar Aseff Ahmed Ali, Waqar Ahmad Khan, Nazar Mohammad Gondal, Raja Parvez Ashraf, Aijaz Jakhrani, Rana Farooq Ahmed, and others in a luncheon-meeting held here at the presidency.
Interestingly, Shah Mahmood Qureshi did not attend the meeting – leaving a huge question mark on his future relationship with the party and the president. However, a handout said Shah Mahmood Qureshi had also called on the President late Friday night.
A source informed Pakistan Today that the president told his comrades that the changes were mandatory to give a chance to new faces. When contacted, Sardar Aseff Ahmad Ali confirmed the meeting, saying that he along with Kaira and two other ministers was invited by the president at lunch. Later, other ministers also attend the meeting.
“During the meeting, the president discussed with us all politico-economic issues while foreign policy of the country also came under the discussion. The three-hour meeting also touched other issues,’ said the former minister. “The ministers also told the president that they had willingly accepted the decision of being dropped from the cabinet. All of us also expressed confidence in the party co-chairman,” he added.
Presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said that the President lauded the services of the former Ministers and thanked them for standing by the Party and the government through thick and thin. The President said that change was an inevitable part of life and it should not be taken as distrust in those who had not been inlcuded in the new cabinet.
Meanwhile, another source said that like Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Qamar Zaman Kaira was also upset with the information of change of portfolio and he too had refused to take oath on Friday as minister. “Kaira was informed about change of office moments before the oath taking ceremony. He promptly refused to take oath as minister for Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs. Later, he was asked by the prime minister to take oath as minister for water and power.
However, the adamant Kaira against refused and even did not turn up at the oath taking ceremony,” the source added.
