Dr Abdul Wahid Soomro (MNA Pakistan Peoples Party)

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Zardari on Thursday asked PPP ranks to pay no heed to rumours of change, but at the same time “be prepared for a signal to meet any emergency”.
The PPP co-chairman was speaking at the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting at the Presidency.
The meeting was convened for a mid-term review of the performance of the PPP-led coalition government and to discuss the situation in the wake of the Supreme Court’s renewed attention towards the NRO, official and unofficial sources of the party told Dawn.
Although a number of members criticised the government’s performance and blamed arbitrary decision-making of the party leadership for the internal party crisis, they stood behind the leadership in facing challenges because of internal rifts and “judicial activism”.
Ruling out the possibility of any in-house change, the president said such things were only there in the media, the sources said. But at the same time, he advised PPP members “to be ready for any possible emergency situation” for which a call could be given any time.
Some members, particularly those belonging to Sindh, protested over the PPP leadership’s decision of not inviting Senator Safdar Abbasi, considered to be a dissident, to the meeting. Another important CEC member, Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, did not attend the meeting.

PPP Secretary General Jahangir Badar and Information Secretary Fauzia Wahab told media after the meeting that the CEC had advised the government to take steps to check “artificial price-hike and unemployment” and improve the law and order situation in the wake of an increase in crime rate across the country.
Mr Badar admitted that members of the party had pointed out mistakes committed by the coalition government over the past two-and-a half years, but refrained from mentioning them. He, however, said that the CEC had also called for reducing the size of the federal cabinet because of financial crunch. He claimed that the members expressed their satisfaction over the performance of the government.
In reply to a question about Mr Abbasi, the PPP secretary general claimed that he had been invited to the meeting, but could not attend it because of “some mistake in communication”.
However, Mr Safdar Abbasi told media that he was stopped from attending the meeting at the eleventh hour, adding that he had been invited two days ago for the meeting.
But on Wednesday night, he said, he was again contacted by the party leaders, asking him not to come to the Presidency for the meeting.
The sources told Dawn that when some CEC members protested over the decision, Mr Abbasi was again contacted by the Presidency in the middle of the meeting, but he refused to attend it, saying that he had already faced humiliation.
The sources said that Mr Zardari directed MNA Yousuf Talpur and Senator Raza Rabbani to contact the party dissidents to remove their grievances. At one stage, the sources said, Mr Zardari said that he was ready to apologise to dissidents if he had committed any wrong, but if they (the dissidents) had committed mistakes then they should come to him to tender an apology.
JUDICIARY:
Some of the participants, the sources said, spoke against the judiciary and used harsh words.
A PPP leader alleged that it appeared the judiciary was playing into the hands of “unseen forces” which wanted to destabilise the government. “The judges are taking decisions as if they are running the government,” a source quoted a member as telling the meeting.
Besides the judiciary, some of the members said that “agencies” had never allowed PPP-led governments to complete term and were again active to destabilise the present set-up.
The CEC resolved that since the president enjoyed immunity under the Constitution, the government should not write any letter to Swiss authorities to reopen cases against him.
Mr Badar avoided speaking on the issue, simply saying his party did not want confrontation with the judiciary.
Mr Badar said the party would continue to strengthen democracy without being battered by rumours.
The party, he said, would continue the policy of reconciliation and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had been authorised to talk to all political forces in the country.
The PPP secretary general said the CEC had decided to reorganise the party in all the four provinces from next month.
According to Mr Badar, the meeting was also attended by party chairman Bilawal Bhutto.
Later, the party’s information secretary handed out to reporters copies of a letter written by Bilawal Bhutto to all party members asking them not to rest until every household in the flood-devastated villages was rebuilt and life returned to normalcy.
PRESIDENT’S SPEECH:
According to an official handout issued by presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar, President Zardari said the PPP government had the people’s mandate and had many achievements to its credit during the first half of its tenure.
Amidst thunderous applause, President Zardari declared that the government would complete its term “despite obstacles, difficulties, challenges and machinations”.
Mr Zardari said the party was committed to defending democracy, protecting the Constitution and upholding the parliament’s supremacy.
The president said the government was concentrating on relief and rehabilitation of the flood-affected people and revival of the economy.
The president said that he had proposed to the government to levy one-time flood tax on urban properties in order to create resources for rebuilding and reconstructing the infrastructure.
Sources