Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and top ranking Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) officials came under fire as President Asif Zardari interacted with party office-bearers and ticket holders to assess factors behind the party’s defeat in the recent general election, especially in Punjab, where the party has literally been wiped out.
According to party insiders, before listening to ticket holders in an open house where some 400 party leaders had gathered, Zardari held a separate meeting with top leaders from Punjab over lunch. Those present in the exclusive meeting included the two former premiers Yousaf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf, former Punjab governor Ahmad Mahmud, Aitzaz Ahsan, Latif Khosa and Manzoor Wattoo.
In the meeting most grandees blamed rigging for the party’s poor show in Punjab. It has been learnt that Aitzaz Ahsan, the lone ranger in the meeting, had something different to offer from other participants.
Aitzaz said it would be unrealistic to consider rigging as the main cause of the party’s defeat in elections.
“Bad governance and corruption scams over the last five years have taken a heavy toll on the party and it reflected in elections. We paid the price for our failure to place the right man for the right job,” sources quoted Aitzaz as saying.
He proposed that the party constitute a commission to probe into the causes of its failure.
It has also been learnt that Gilani and Wattoo came in for a lot of stick on the occasion and so did former governor Latif Khosa for not mobilising the party.
Later, Gilani announced a one-man commission to examine the causes of the party’s defeat and how to cover these lapses, under Aitzaz Ahsan.
Zardari lashes out at top leaders for PPP defeat
