Many people left the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) since its foundation but could not damage it and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will have the same fate as former Punjab governor and CM Ghulam Mustafa Khar, Punjab Opposition Leader Raja Riaz said on Wednesday.
He was holding a press conference at the Punjab Assembly (PA) Cafeteria. Riaz said that the Chaudhry brothers were not involved in the assassination conspiracy of former PM and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto. The PPP leader said that Qureshi was a man of his own interests and resigned because he was not giving the ministry of his choice. He said that Qureshi’s departure would have no impact on the PPP, as nobody could damage it.
Riaz said that the PPP was an ocean and leaders such as Qureshi could get benefits from it but had no capacity to harm former PM and PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s philosophy. He said that Qureshi got recognition and respect because of the party. The Punjab opposition leader expressed confidence that the PPP would continue to work for democracy.
Riaz said that Qureshi had very close relations with former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf and Musharraf even stayed at Qureshi’s residence during his tenure. He said that the PPP was a party of labourers, farmers and poor people, adding that Qureshi agreed to the party leadership on a coalition with the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) in a meeting held at his residence but was now criticising the coalition.
The PPP leader alleged that Qureshi started criticising the party when it was clear that he will not remain a minister. Riaz said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan had disappointed him, as he was still a player and not a politician. He criticised the Punjab government and said that it had failed, as it could not even successfully declare results of Matric and Intermediate.
Riaz said that annoyed parliamentarians would soon be persuaded and this issue would be resolved soon. He said that their grievances would be resolved. The PPP leader said that there was no grouping within the party, adding that Qureshi was fighting for his own survival. Riaz said that people of South Punjab were not happy with Qureshi, as the PPP was most active party in South Punjab. PPP Punjab Parliamentary Leader Zulfiqar Gondal, criticising both Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan, said that they were attached with the Taliban. He said that the Punjab government’s poor planning had cost the provincial kitty billions of rupees.
