With the memo controversy remaining on top of everything and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) taking it as a threat to its government, a number of participants of the parliamentary party meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Friday stood in support of their leadership and said the army chief and the chief justice should be asked to resign, and also demanded the removal of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief.
A source told Pakistan Today that as the meeting at PM’s House went into session to discuss the situation, some PPP parliamentarians criticised the role of the army chief and the ISI chief by drawing a parallel between what Mansoor Ijaz had said about Husain Haqqani and what he claimed about the ISI chief travelling to some Arab countries for support to remove President Asif Ali Zardari. They, the source said, also questioned the neutrality of the chief justice and said all the three top men – the army chief, the ISI chief and the chief justice – should quit. “Chaudhry Ghafoor and Mumtaz Gilani demanded resignation of the army chief and the chief justice besides urging the leadership to remove the ISI chief,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary party meeting of the PPP decided in principle to start a dialogue with the political forces, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif, and fully expose those conspiring against the democratic government in the wake of the memo controversy.
The meeting was extraordinary in terms of the fact that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, for the first time, formally chaired the party’s meeting. Moreover, it was the first meeting of the parliamentary party to discuss the memo case.
Another source, who wished to remain unnamed, told Pakistan Today that the extraordinary meeting was held here to evaluate the political situation in the wake of the memo controversy. He also quoted Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani as telling his party-men that the army leadership should have submitted their replies on the memo issue via the Defence Ministry through proper channel, instead of directly submitting them to the apex court. Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Information Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan and PPP Information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira also came under fire in the ruling party’s meeting for not properly defending the government on memogate.
“During the meeting, MNA Nadeem Afzal Gondal suggested that there was a dire need to take PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and other anti-establishment forces into confidence over the situation and pressures being faced by the government. This proposal was also endorsed by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani,” said the source. The source added that Gondal also called for strongly defending the party’s stance at all forums, which he said was badly lacking as neither the Information Ministry nor the party’s Media Wing was doing it, and all were ducking the media critique giving an impression that the government’s version was weak.
“This triggered a debate which lasted for around an hour with most of the party MPs blasting the information minister and information wing of the PPP for not defending the party,” said the source.
Another party leader said Rehman Malik was also grilled by the party leaders for making useless claims of capturing the killers of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. “The minister should either arrest the killers of our leader or he should avoid making a new statement each time he faces the media,” the source quoted another party MNA as saying.
The source said that one parliamentarian was of the opinion that if Husain Haqqani was made to resign, the ISI chief should also resign.
PREPARE FOR POLLS: During the meeting, Prime Minister Gilani asked the MPs to get their development schemes completed in the shortest period of time so that if elections are held before time, they should be in a good position to contest them.
“If you need more funds, I will give them to you from my special funds. But do get your schemes completed so you can win on the basis of your performance. Moreover, get your party organisations completed at the grassroots level in time to face any emergency situation,” the source quoted the prime minister as saying.
Vowing to fight the conspiracies against the democratic process, Prime Minister Gilani said there was no truth to the memo affair and this was a conspiracy against the democratically elected government.
The PPP meeting, convened by Gilani, also pledged to face all challenges and not to bow before any adversary. He urged party members to prepare themselves for the elections and gear up momentum after March. Addressing the meeting, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari termed the PPP a party that excelled in sacrifice. He said he was happy to be among the party leaders and he would learn from their experiences and advice.
He also questioned why other national issues such as the hanging of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the Kargil operation and efforts to destabilise the government were not treated as treason cases, while the memogate issue was being vociferously touted as treason. He urged all PPP leaders to take the people into confidence over the issue.