PPP under the hammer, warns of ‘war’

• Zardari orders party members to launch strong protests, make strategy against arrests of leaders, says party being pushed against the wall
• NA Opp leader Khursheed Shah says any action against Zardari ‘will instigate war’
• Sherry Rehman says PPP has suffered huge losses in war against terrorism, will not hamper Karachi operation
• Questions timing of arrest of Dr Asim Hussain and issuance of arrest warrants for Yousaf Raza Gilani and Amin Fahim

Former president of Pakistan and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday ordered his stalwarts and supporters to launch a strong protest and adopt a solid strategy against arrests of party leaders, as the party sought to distance itself from charges of terror financing being made against its senior leaders.

Expressing annoyance over National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) actions in Sindh, the PPP co-chairman reportedly said that his party was being pushed against the wall.

“Is corruption prevalent in Karachi only?” he was quoted as posing the question.

The development was followed by a statement from Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Shah in which the PPP leader warned of “waging a war” if his party’s co-chairman was targeted by the federal institutions.

Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, Shah said that a decision should be made whether to keep Pakistan intact or to destabilise it.

“Any action on Asif Ali Zardari will instigate a war,” said Shah.

The opposition leader further said former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf was being implicated in a case regarding ‘grey trafficking’.

Reaching out to ruling PML-N, Shah said the government must realize that political parties were their aides and nothing can be achieved by force.

“We are strangled in mutual chaos…People’s Party doesn’t want to weaken the Parliament,” he said, adding that the party would fight against oppression by remaining in the parliament.

In an apparent reference to Sindh, Shah said that a particular province was being targeted and shattered on purpose. “Has corruption been eliminated from Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he questioned.

The statements come after an anti-corruption court in Karachi issued non-bailable arrest warrants for former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and senior PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Faheem earlier on Thursday for their alleged involvement in the multi-million-rupee Trade and Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) corruption scandal.

Meanwhile, an anti-terrorism court in Karachi remanded former petroleum minister and Sindh Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Asim Hussain into Rangers custody for 90 days also on Thursday.

The former federal minister, who is also a close aide of Zardari, was picked up from his office the previous day and taken to an undisclosed location for questioning. He was later transferred into the custody of Rangers personnel, who presented him in the ATC under strict security.

PPP REJECTS TERROR FINANCING CHARGES:

Meanwhile, PPP Senior Vice President Sherry Rehman and senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira told reporters at a press conference in the federal capital on Thursday that charges of terror financing against the party were ludicrous “as the party had itself suffered huge losses in the fight against terrorism”.

“PPP has always been on the front-line in the war against terror. How can you say that PPP is involved in terror financing?”

Presenting her party’s stance on the arrest warrants for Gilani and Fahim and the detention of Dr Asim Hussain in Rangers custody for 90 days, Sherry Rehman said: “Yousuf Raza Gilani has always presented himself before the court even when he was holding the office of prime minister.”

PPP has always respected the judiciary and will not carry out action that hampers the current democratic setup in the country, she said.

Talking about the ongoing anti-corruption drive in Sindh, Rehman clarified that the “PPP has no objection whatsoever over the operation and will create no hurdle in its implementation”. But she said “it looks like politics of revenge is being carried out with the PPP as the sole target.”

“We will keep alive our tradition of struggle for democracy and will face every atrocity,” she said.

She went on to raise concerns over the timing of the recent legal actions against PPP leaders, adding that these came at a time when party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is carrying out a campaign to mobilise party workers. “The timing of all these actions is a bit of a concern for us.”

“We are not afraid of the actions being carried out against us and are willing to present ourselves before the courts, but the investigations should be carried out in a transparent manner,” she stressed.

There are laws and regulations to try white-collar crimes and corruption, said Rehman, adding that “laws made to try terrorists should not be used to against political leaders”.

Meanwhile, PPP Secretary Information Qamar Zaman Kaira expressed surprise over the developments, saying “the only party in Pakistan that took a stand against terrorists and sacrificed its leaders in the process is now being labelled as a terrorist party”.

“We are okay with the investigations carried out against out party members but any allegations related to terror financing are unacceptable,” he asserted.

On Wednesday, in what has been described as the first major action against the PPP leadership during the ongoing Karachi operation, Dr Asim Hussain, a former federal minister and close aide to former president Asif Ali Zardari, was taken into custody by the Rangers. The National Accountability Bureau has denied having anything to do with Dr Asim’s detention.

The action came a day after Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif had directed the authorities to break the “evil nexus between terrorism, criminal mafias, violence and corruption” to achieve the objective of ensuring a peaceful and terror-free Karachi.

style=’font-size:13.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: “Times New Roman”,”serif”‘>“We are not afraid of the actions being carried out against us and are willing to present ourselves before the courts, but the investigations should be carried out in a transparent manner,” she stressed.

There are laws and regulations to try white-collar crimes and corruption, said Rehman, adding that “laws made to try terrorists should not be used to against political leaders”.

Meanwhile, PPP Secretary Information Qamar Zaman Kaira expressed surprise over the developments, saying “the only party in Pakistan that took a stand against terrorists and sacrificed its leaders in the process is now being labelled as a terrorist party”.

“We are okay with the investigations carried out against out party members but any allegations related to terror financing are unacceptable,” he asserted.

On Wednesday, in what has been described as the first major action against the PPP leadership during the ongoing Karachi operation, Dr Asim Hussain, a former federal minister and close aide to former president Asif Ali Zardari, was taken into custody by the Rangers. The National Accountability Bureau has denied having anything to do with Dr Asim’s detention.

The action came a day after Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif had directed the authorities to break the “evil nexus between terrorism, criminal mafias, violence and corruption” to achieve the objective of ensuring a peaceful and terror-free Karachi.