LAHORE - PPP Central Secretary General Jehangir Badr on Sunday extended a renewed offer of reconciliation to all political parties to steer the country out of the present crises. “All political issues now stand settled as a result of the consensus reached on 18th amendment. Now is the time for all parties to sit together to resolve people’s economic problems,” he said while addressing a luncheon hosted by a close aide to President Zardari, Mr Ahmad Riaz Sheikh and his spouse Shabina Riaz Sheikh in honour of PML-Q leadership on Moonis Elahi’s acquittal from the court.
Apart from an occasion to celebrate the acquittal of Moonis Elahi, the event was also a get-together of senior PPP and PML-Q leaders ahead of the coming Senate elections in which the two parties intend to reinforce each other’s position vis-à-vis PML-N to secure maximum number of seats from all provinces. Senior journalists present on the occasion termed it a continuation of the efforts being made to further cement political relations between the two parties.
The occasion was also meant to announce launching of a news channel with the name of “Capital” in the near future by sons of former Additional Director of FIA, Dr. Basit Riaz Sheikh and Hashaam Riaz Sheikh. Senior PPP leaders including Punjab Governor, Sardar Latif Khosa, Federal Minister Manzoor Watto, PPP’s central Punjab President, Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, southern Punjab President, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Qasim Zia, Abdul Qadir Gilani, Syed Asif Hashmi, Tanvir Ashraf Kaira, Navid Ch, Shaukat Basra, Faiza Malik and Beelam Hasnain were present. From the PML-Q side, Ch Shujaat Hussain, Senior Federal Minister, Ch Pervaiz Elahi, Ch Zaheeruddin Ahmad, Muhammad Basharat Raja and female legislators were prominent on the occasion sans Moonis Elahi who is abroad these days.
In continuation of his reconciliation mantra, Badr said that PPP’s policy of political reconciliation was not aimed at seeking power. Rather, he added, this was because his party believed in achieving national consensus to resolve peoples’ problems. He said PPP was following the policy of reconciliation from the day one, as formation of the MRD and ARD was also a manifestation of this policy besides singing of CoD with the PML-N. “We are only implementing the political vision of Shaheed BB who had singed CoD with the PML-N to promote a cultural of political reconciliation for public good”, he observed. He said country was going through a transitory period at the moment to prepare for the general elections.
Speaking in the context of Moonis Elahi case, Punjab governor said that those talking of supremacy of law and the Constitution must also understand that to follow the due process of law and justice was also required under the law, which he believed was not followed in Moonis Elahi’s case. One investigation officer was posted again and again which was not a normal practice under the law, he added. Khosa urged the need for putting in place of a law to hold the accusers accountable in case they fail to prove the charges. “There should be some remedy for keeping a person in jail for nine years without anything proved against him”, he said while referring to President Zardari’s long trial in jail. Ch Shujaat Hussain questioned why the custodians of justice would not make mention of the court exonerated Moonis Elahi from the fake cases registered against him.
Making a comparison of President Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif, Ch Shujaat said that the latter was full of vanity unlike the former who was devoid of it. He said Mian Nawaz Sharif did not act upon his advice to keep off from sycophants and to save himself from being a victim of “mein” (vanity) which later proved disastrous for him. “I talked to President Zardari after his interview on a news channel only to appreciate him that there was no “mein” (vanity) in him as he preferred to use the word “hum” (we) for himself.” To a question that PML-N leadership did not have trust in PPP leadership, Ch Shujaat said that nobody trusted Mian Nawaz Sharif either. On Memogate, he said that no one was going to benefit out of it. He did not rule out the possibility of a meeting with Mian Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of a proposed APC. Speaking on the occasion, Manzoor Watto said that PPP was going to introduce a transparent system of accountability on its own after failing to get any response from the opposition [PML-N]. He also lauded cabinet decision of making it compulsory for bureaucrats, judges and the generals to declare their assets annually as done by the politicians. He also made mention of declaration of assets by him in 1998 and his subsequent imprisonment upon demanding the same from Mian Shahbaz Sharif. In an implicit reference towards PML-N leadership, Watto said those who don’t believe in forgiveness become alone at the end.