Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stalwarts on Wednesday gathered in Karachi as the ruling party appears to have rolled up sleeves to bring an end to the lingering issue of implementation of the Supreme Court’s NRO verdict, which remains pending as a letter still needs to be written to Swiss authorities for reopening of graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
According to party sources, President Zardari chaired a high-level “consultative” meeting late on Wednesday that was attended by PPP bigwigs like Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Federal Law Minister Farooq H Naik, Wasim Sajjad and other senior leaders from the federal and provincial governments. Issues topping the agenda of the meeting included the much-awaited letter to the Swiss government and the political hustle and bustle in Sindh in wake of the Sindh Assembly’s passage of the Sindh People’s Local Government Ordinance (SPLGO) 2012, Sources said Naik and Sajjad briefed the meeting on ways the party could deal with the issue of writing letter to Swiss authorities, as the apex court had set October 5 as the deadline for the government to submit a final draft of the letter. According to the sources, the meeting discussed the “strategy to write letter to the Swiss authorities”. President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar, however, refrained from confirming that any such strategy had come under discussion in the meeting.
Official sources said the prime minister met the president at Bilawal House where the two leaders discussed details of the president’s recent attendance at the United Nations session in New York.
Zardari told the PM that he had vociferously raised the issue of the anti-Islam film at the UN session. The president also apprised the prime minister about his meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. Raja Pervez Ashraf briefed the president about the current situation in the country, the law and order, particularly in Balochistan and the energy situation. The sources said the meeting also discussed at length the political crisis arising out of the enforcement of the SPLGO 2012 in Sindh and took some important decisions to deal with the challenges to be faced in the future. Before his arrival at the Bilawal House, the PM met Governor Ishratul Ebad Khan at the Governor’s House. Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah was also present. During the meeting, Ebad briefed the PM about the SPLGO 2012 and its short and long-term benefits for the development of grassroots-level democracy in the province.
