PPP chooses to fight another day after govt ‘blackmail’

Far from the media’s probing eye, another deal is being quietly worked between leaders of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as PPPP President Asif Ali Zardari has directed the second-tier leadership of the party to postpone the filing of disqualification references against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members.

PPP’s Latif Khosa said that the filing of the reference had not been cancelled but only postponed until today (Tuesday) but in view of Benazir Bhutto’s birthday on June 21 and events being held in connection with that, it appears unlikely that the party will be filing the reference on Tuesday either.

A well placed source privy to the development told Pakistan Today that the references were scheduled to be filed by PPP Secretary General Senator Latif Khosa and Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan with Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Raza Khan on Thursday.

“However, when Khosa and Aitzaz Ahsan reached the ECP along with their staff, Khosa received a message from party’s high command in Dubai directing him to turn back without filing the reference,” the source said.

The source said that the ‘sudden change of heart’ on the PPP’s part happened after the federal government leaked Dr Asim’s statement as a warning shot across Zardari’s bow.

Sources told Pakistan Today that Aitzaz Ahsan, Latif Khosa and others had put a lot of effort into gathering all the material which would have been submitted along with the reference.

“Khosa’s team had been collecting evidence against Nawaz Sharif and his family members since May 15. After a month of hard work, the PPP had been able to collect strong evidence for their case against Nawaz Sharif and his family. The material included documents about the concealed foreign assets of the Sharif family, details of various bank accounts used to transfer money abroad and assets details filed by members of the Sharif family etc,” the source said.

POSTPONED NOT CANCELLED, PPP SAYS:

When contacted, Khosa confirmed that the filing of the reference has been postponed due to some technical reasons but that it has not been cancelled.

“Yes, the references were going to be filed on Thursday but I had to recall my team from the ECP premises as I could not finalise the references myself due to my busy schedule,” he added.

Khosa said that Zardari did not direct him to postpone the filing of the references.

“Nobody directed me to postpone the references. I will file it on Tuesday,” said Khosa while talking to Pakistan Today on Monday.

DID ZARDARI YIELD TO ARM TWISTING?

The source said that Asif Ali Zardari had said no to repeated ‘peace overtures’ from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and even refused to meet Nawaz Sharif in London.

“When the PM went to London, Zardari left for Dubai, just to avoid any possibility of a meeting between the two,” the source said.

Following the Panama Papers revelations, the PPP leadership decided to file references seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, Hamza Shehbaz and Captain (r) Mohammad Safdar under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution for concealing offshore assets, lying to the Election Commission of Pakistan and for money laundering.

GOVT STOOPS TO DESPERATE MEASURES:

The PPP launched a sustained attack on the government with PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari intensifying the rhetoric with each passing day. Bilwal even talked about the possibility of street protests after Eidul Fitr. The government appeared at its wits’ end over the refusal of the PPP to show them any flexibility and may have been forced to resort to desperate measures.

“Under a new strategy, the government leaked recorded video message of Dr Asim to a private TV channel. The message contained corruption allegations about close aides of Asif Zardari. The government conveyed to the PPP leadership that there were other video confessions which may contain direct allegations against Zardari,” the source said.

The source said that the desperate move finally had the desired result and Zardari was forced to rethink his policy of giving no quarter the PML-N.

ZARDARI, THE ULTIMATE WINNER?

“As a quid pro-quo, Asif Zardari has been conveyed that the Interior Ministry will not only cooperate in Dr Asim’s case but it will also not initiate any new cases against Zardari and his close associates despite the confessions made by Dr Asim,” the source said.

Zardari, who had himself embarked upon a no-deals policy with the PML-N only after the latter refused to cooperate with him over the arrest of his alleged ‘front man’ may also have gotten what he wanted all along.

The source said that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had played a key role in the arm twisting of the PPP leader even though he later put on a show of his ‘outrage’ on the leaking of the video and even asked the Sindh government to investigate which agency had been behind the leak.

THE REFERENCE:

The Article 62 of the Constitution requires the members of parliament to be ‘sagacious, righteous, non-profligate, honest and ameen’.

The PPP has accused the Sharif family of concealing their assets and lying to state institutions as well as to the people of Pakistan about their income, assets and offshore companies.

The reference says that contradictory statements and concealed assets of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his other family members as well as the statement by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar submitted to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in 1999-2000 about Sharif’s money laundering from Pakistan to foreign bank accounts have already available with the state institutions. The reference says it is no secret that the ruling family has been involved in money laundering and other criminal offences.

The reference says that the allegations leveled in the Panama Leaks have brought a bad name to the state of Pakistan, its democratic institutions and the people. Moreover, the above-mentioned individuals have violated their respective oaths of offices.

The reference adds that after the ownership claimed by the relatives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other members of the Sharif family of hidden assets which have not been mentioned in their assets declaration, the aforementioned individuals cannot be called ‘Sadiq’ and ‘Ameen’ anymore; hence, they should be tried under relevant laws for perjury.

“That being dishonest and failing to have integrity, the above mentioned individuals are liable to be disqualified under article 63 of the Constitution as members of the respective assembly/Senate,” the reference says.