Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) central executive committee on Wednesday backed its co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari's anti-military outburstfrom a day before, saying that all institutions needed to work within their mandated constitutional parameters.
PPP’s central executive committee (CEC) met in Islamabad’s Zardari House on Wednesday, and took notice of media comments on the co-chairman’s remarks made at a party event. The committee noted that only “one part of the speech was emphasised repeatedly”.
The committee, however, resolved to support the military in its crucial offensive against militants — Zarb-i-Azb — and appreciated the sacrifices rendered by the army, police and law-enforcement forces.
Talking to Dawn.com after the conclusion of the CEC meeting, former information minister and senior member of the PPP, Qamar Zaman Kaira, said it had also been decided to field PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto as a candidate for the National Assembly.
Kaira said Bilawal will run for the Lower House from either Sukkur or Larkana, adding that a formal announcement in this regard will be made today (Thursday).
Dawn.com also learned through sources that the PPP plans on introducing Bilawal as Leader of Opposition in the Lower House, and that Khursheed Shah had already agreed to this suggestion.
The PPP also demanded of the federal government to pay more attention towards implementing the National Action Plan as envisaged in the all-parties conference (APC) in December 2014.
The party also took note of the recent hostile statements made by the Indian leadership and expressed concern over the implications such statements had for regional peace.
The party said it completely supported the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor and would continue to play a key role in building consensus on it.
The PPP also demanded that allocations for the corridor in the federal budget be made commensurate to its early completion on priority and according to plans agreed to in the APC called for the purpose.
The party also expressed severe reservations on the manner in which local government polls were conducted in KP, and reiterated the stance it had taken in the province along with ANP and JUI-F.
Zardari on Tuesday had given a hard-hitting speech, where he lashed out at the military establishment for overstepping its domain.
The former president said army chiefs come and go every three years but the political leadership was here to stay. “We know the country better and we know how to run its affairs," he stressed.
Zardari went on to say he did not want to weaken the country’s institutions, but "they [establishment] should also not try to create hurdles for politicians."
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