Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Pakistan - PPP leaders back Zardari's military remarks, decide to field Bilawal for NA
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."
Pakistan - The credibility of Imran Khan
Imran Khan claims the moral high ground. What is more, he is never tired of flaunting his credentials as a great organiser. However, the very first intra-party election held under his supervision was rejected by the PTI workers for being rigged on a big scale. Party pressure forced Imran Khan to appoint a commission under Justice (retd) Wajihudin Ahmad, PTI’s presidential candidate in 2013, to look into the complaints. To Imran Khan’s surprise the commission concluded that the charges of massive rigging including purchasing of votes were genuine.
Imran Khan is constantly demanding the accountability of those responsible for stealing the 2013 General Elections. Afraid that the accountability of PTI leaders might be politically harmful, he tried to sweep the affair under the carpet by announcing fresh elections. This amounted to practising double standards. When the tribunal ordered the dissolution of all party offices prior to the elections, Imran Khan decided to get rid of the tribunal by arbitrarily dismissing it on the ground that it had brought bad name to the party. The tribunal however defied Imran Khan by continuing to record the statements of the PTI complainants.
The commission has now announced its ruling after fixing the responsibility of those involved in rigging. It has cancelled the basic membership of some of the PTI leaders, debarred others from holding any party office and issued show cause notice to still others and summoned them on June 29 for questioning. Instead of cooperating with the commission that he had himself constituted, Imran Khan maintains that its directives are not valid as he had already dissolved it. Some of the party leaders have used inappropriate language about the chief of the commission who was once described by the PTI as a man with impeccable honesty.
The PTI mismanaged the internal polls, then it tried to cover up those who stole the elections and finally let down its own judicial commission. All this makes Imran Khan’s claims of honesty and integrity sound hollow.
Pakistan - PTI’s Democratic Myth
It seems Wajihuddin Ahmed is fast becoming the new Javed Hashmi for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf; a respected veteran that is being ostracised for trying to make the party a democratic and accountable institution. From being the party’s candidate for the presidential election of 2013 to being labelled “mentally unstable” by party ranks; Justice Wajihuddin’s story – just like Javed Hashmi’s – is a stark reminder of the fate that is to befall anyone who challenges the edicts of Imran Khan.
On Tuesday, an intra-party tribunal headed by Wajihuddin Ahmed, the retired Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court, set up to investigate rigging in PTI’s intra-party polls ordered the expulsion of senior leaders Jehangir Tareen and Nadir Khan Leghari from the party for manipulating the polls that were held before the 2013 general election. Also in the line of fire were Pervaiz Khattak, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, and ex-Lahore party chief Aleem Khan, both of whom were ordered to be stripped from office and barred from re-entry into the party. To this PTI contends that the tribunal was disbanded by party chairman, Imran Khan in the month of April, and thus the order holds no weight, and they are right. According to the standards of the PTI’s “democratic” party charter – in which the chairman holds unfettered and unlimited power to override and reverse any decision – the contention is correct; PTI members are not bound by the decision, and Wajihuddin can be safely considered a rouge judge. But according to the democratic pretensions of the party and by the notions of accountability and due process that Imran Khan has so often advocated; the whole saga sinks the myth of PTI’s democratic nature and shows Imran Khan to be the antithesis of what he purports to be – an autocratic dictator.
Wajihuddin’s tribunal was not disbanded when he concluded his judgement and ordered immediate re-elections – since massive irregularities were unearthed in the intra-party polls – his tribunal was disbanded when it summoned Imran Khan to answer why new elections haven’t taken place yet. Not only does this show the fact that Imran Khan wilfully chooses to ignore corruption in party ranks, it also shows how he reacts to dissent; effectively silencing it. What legitimacy remains in his pursuit of a favourable Judicial Commission verdict? In one go he has demolished the whole narrative he painstakingly built during the dharna – with the talk of stolen mandates and accountability – shooting his already shaky credibility in the foot. With his own house in disarray, what legitimacy does he have to preach reform to others? More shameful is the reaction of the PTI’s social media contagion, which spent no time in demonising Wajihuddin and accusing him of conspiring with the PML-N; who, incidentally, only a few months ago was a paragon of integrity and living proof of PTI’s honest foundations. Day by day, PTI is being joined by opportunistic electables, while politicians of merit are being chased out for daring to disagree with the mighty Khan.
Asif Ali Zardar - I am not interested in power, want to serve masses
https://ppppunjab.wordpress.com/2015/06/17/westandwithasifzardari-asif-ali-zardar-says-i-am-not-interested-in-power-want-to-serve-masses/
Pakistan - Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo expressed solidarity with Model Town victims
https://ppppunjab.wordpress.com/
A social order based on tyranny may survive for a considerable length of time but based on injustice is bound to meet final abode of decomposition sooner than later, said Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo while addressing the function here late yesterday night held to commemorate Model Town tragedy at Minhaj-ul- Quran. He added that he came with Tanvir Ashraf Kaira, Secretary General of the Party, to express solidarity with the families and the PAT whose loved ones were killed by the Punjab Police on June 16 last year at Model Town, Lahore.
He maintained that it was beyond comprehension the Chief Minister of Punjab did not know the incident of such an abhorrent proportion under his nose in which 14 innocent people were killed and ninety injured by police and the use of brutal force was seen by the people on TV screens.
If Chief Minister did not know the incident or knew but preferred to turn his blind eye to was unforgiving omission and commission adding in both cases he lost the right to rule the province because abetment and complacency could not be condoned when question of life and property of the people was at stake, he added.
He observed that democracy was all about rule of law, good governance and tolerance and in the absence of these traits a government was analogous to mobocracy adding it was manifested in its worst form on June 16 last year against the PAT workers.
He assured the victim families that the PPP would not let democracy be trampled upon under the iron feet of suppression while expressing the determination to eliminate the practice in its all forms and manifestation with the support of the people who were overwhelmingly in favour of undiluted democracy. Most of surveys carried out by various research organizations are testimony to this fact, he added.
He said that he saluted the patience of the families whose close relatives were shot dead by Punjab Police and were still waiting as when the culprits would be brought to justice. Justice will be done adding that the PPP Punjab will not rest till the perpetrators are not brought in the dock, he assured the victim families.
He recalled that the PPP and its leadership was also victim of the tyranny perpetrated by successive dictators but did not abandon the cause of empowering the people of Pakistan who were relegated to secondary position in the mainstream politics of the country.
He pointed out that it was Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who got the elite out of the drawing room politics and nudged them to go to the doors of the poor and seek their votes to entitle them to represent them in the National Assembly. It was for the first time that the members of the Assemblies were elected on the basis of one man one vote and Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto empowered the people of Pakistan for the first time and they would continue to exercise it for all times to come, he concluded.
He maintained that it was beyond comprehension the Chief Minister of Punjab did not know the incident of such an abhorrent proportion under his nose in which 14 innocent people were killed and ninety injured by police and the use of brutal force was seen by the people on TV screens.
If Chief Minister did not know the incident or knew but preferred to turn his blind eye to was unforgiving omission and commission adding in both cases he lost the right to rule the province because abetment and complacency could not be condoned when question of life and property of the people was at stake, he added.
He observed that democracy was all about rule of law, good governance and tolerance and in the absence of these traits a government was analogous to mobocracy adding it was manifested in its worst form on June 16 last year against the PAT workers.
He assured the victim families that the PPP would not let democracy be trampled upon under the iron feet of suppression while expressing the determination to eliminate the practice in its all forms and manifestation with the support of the people who were overwhelmingly in favour of undiluted democracy. Most of surveys carried out by various research organizations are testimony to this fact, he added.
He said that he saluted the patience of the families whose close relatives were shot dead by Punjab Police and were still waiting as when the culprits would be brought to justice. Justice will be done adding that the PPP Punjab will not rest till the perpetrators are not brought in the dock, he assured the victim families.
He recalled that the PPP and its leadership was also victim of the tyranny perpetrated by successive dictators but did not abandon the cause of empowering the people of Pakistan who were relegated to secondary position in the mainstream politics of the country.
He pointed out that it was Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who got the elite out of the drawing room politics and nudged them to go to the doors of the poor and seek their votes to entitle them to represent them in the National Assembly. It was for the first time that the members of the Assemblies were elected on the basis of one man one vote and Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto empowered the people of Pakistan for the first time and they would continue to exercise it for all times to come, he concluded.