Zardari says did not call for extension to Gen Raheel

PPP leader distances himself from statement attributed to him in media saying he supports army’s efforts against terrorism but did not comment on extension in term for army chief

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s purported statement on Tuesday in support of an extension for Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif has put the party’s leadership in a tough spot, as many can be seen publicly distancing themselves from the awkward demand.

An investigation into the matter by Pakistan Today has revealed that the statement in question was a draft text that was disseminated to the media before the PPP leader and former president of Pakistan could amend it.

A reliable source told Pakistan Today that the former president had asked his sister Faryal Talpur to release a statement on his behalf that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) supported action against militants in the country.

Faryal Talpur, reportedly, added the line that Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif should be given an extension as people would be greatly disappointed if he did not keep leading the fight against militants till its logical conclusion. The sources said that the initial draft was then passed on to electronic media through informal channels without confirming the final version with Zardari.

The source said that an investigation was underway to determine who had passed on the initial draft of Zardari’s statement to the electronic media through Whatsapp.

Due to the media attention on the PSL final on Tuesday evening, the electronic media broke the statement in the afternoon attributing it to the former president. The statement came as a big surprise as the former president had warned the military leadership of ‘consequences’ over the Rangers’ action against his top aides in a fiery speech some months ago.

In the evening, Zardari was taken to task as his statement was considered a summersault in a bid to please the army leadership which had launched an anti-corruption drive against the PPP’s top leadership in Sindh.

Neither the party’s information secretary nor its media cell contradicted the statement till Wednesday noon. It was, however, anchorperson Hamid Mir who made an effort to contradict the news item through his two tweets on the social media website.

“Asif Ali Zardari just called me and expressed total ignorance about his statement. He said, ‘me or my party never issued any such statement,’” Hamid Mir wrote.

In a subsequent tweet, Mir added, “Asif Ali Zardari said he had always supported Army’s actions against terrorism but he never commented on the extension of the COAS.”

But PPP’s media wing still failed to take control of the situation.

The whole affair became compounded even further after PPP Punjab MPA Khurram Jahangir Wattoo, who is also the son of PPP Punjab President Mian Manzoor Wattoo, moved a resolution in the Punjab Assembly in support of an extension for General Raheel Sharif.

The summary of the resolution said that the army chief should be granted an extension in his services because of the outstanding achievements that have been achieved under his command.

The Punjab government, however, opposed the resolution with Law Minister Rana Sanaullah saying that such issues should not be debated in the House as it was unlawful and against the constitution. He further added that General Raheel is doing full justice to his job but to have such discussions in the assembly is not a good idea.

Later, on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah and Qamar Zaman Kaira visited the National Press Club to make a clarification.

Kaira contradicted the news item, saying the matter was being investigated as to how Asif Zardari’ statement had been released. Kaira said that Asif Zardari and PPP’s stance was the same which was that they stand by the army on operation against terrorists. He said that General Raheel Sahrif earned a good name for the country as well as for army.

“Everyone commended Gen Raheel’s decision. But PPP is the only party which is being held accountable for supporting the army,” he added. Kaira said that his party had opposed some of Rangers’ excessive powers and there was anger and outrage in the party ranks over the issue but they still supported the army.