Leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) have annoyingly cast down the importance of former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s entry into the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), calling him an ‘opportunist’.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said, “The president of Pakistan is a symbol of the Federation and passing unparliamentary remarks against the president is inappropriate.”
The information minister said that Qureshi was a former foreign minister and yet he is unaware of the fact that the command and control authority of the nuclear assets was present with the prime minister and not the president.
PPP Central Information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira said Qureshi was pursuing his personal interests, and if given the charge of Foreign Ministry again, he would start praising President Asif Ali Zardari. He criticised the former PPP member for using “indecent” language against Zardari, saying the president was carrying forward the vision of Benazir Bhutto.
Aijaz Durrani, incharge of the Media Cell at Bilawal House, said the PPP vehemently condemned Qureshi’s criticism on Bhutto family. He said that on the first day of Muharram, Qureshi was “falsely” presenting himself as a follower of Imam Hussain (A.S.) and Mehmood Ghaznavi, the Muslim king who invaded Subcontinent several times.
PPP-Punjab Coordinator Navid Chaudhry said Qureshi had only mureeds (spiritual followers) and not voters. He said that in the past, an ordinary PPP candidate had defeated Pir Pagara in the elections, despite the fact that Pagara had hundreds of thousands of followers. He said Pagara’s followers had refused to vote for their spiritual leader against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s charisma. He said that although Qureshi had a large number of followers, but few voters in his constituency.
PPP-Punjab General Secretary Samiullah Khan said Qureshi had no popularity among the masses and all the fame he had gained was only because of the PPP. He said that only Qureshi’s followers from interior Sindh had participated in his rally to see their spiritual leader. He said Qureshi announced concerns about the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear assets after being “ousted” from the cabinet. He said Qureshi should be charged with treason.
PPP-Punjab Finance Secretary Aurangzeb Barki said Qureshi had long desired to become a leader like Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, but lacked the vision and qualities. Shaukat Basra, PPP’s deputy parliamentary leader in the Punjab Assembly, said the PPP was an ideological party with a vision that attracts people. He said Qureshi had nothing to do with the PPP’s vote bank in south Punjab. He added that the charges levelled by Qureshi against the president were baseless.
