Farewell for President Zardari today

The PPP has invited all opposition parties to a farewell reception the party is giving to President Asif Ali Zardari in the Parliament House on Wednesday. A source close to the Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly, Khursheed Shah, said that leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), PML-Q, Awami National Party (ANP), Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and parliamentarians from Fata (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) had been invited to the reception. He said an invitation had also been sent to National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, but it could not be known whether he would attend the function or not. The source said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had not been invited to the function. Besides opposition leaders, former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf and journalists covering the parliament have also been invited to the reception. Sources in the National Assembly said the reception was being hosted in the Speaker’s banquet hall in the Parliament House without getting a formal approval from the speaker. However, they added, the speaker did not object to the use of hall for the function. Talking to Dawn, Khursheed Shah said all parliamentarians belonging to opposition parties had been invited to the reception. It has been learnt that Mr Zardari would be the first president in the country’s history to whom a farewell reception is being given in the Parliament House. President Zardari will address participants of the function after a welcome address by the opposition leader. Mr Zardari will be first elected president of the country to complete his five-year term on Sept 8. He has the distinction of addressing the joint sitting of the parliament for six times.