LAHORE: PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari said, while addressing a joint press conference with Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chief Tahirul Qadri, that the party will abide by all decisions taken in the PAT-called all-party conference scheduled for December 30.
“We will abide by the decisions taken in the all-party conference and follow a joint strategy,” said the PPP co-chairman..
“Shehbaz Sharif will have to step down, cases are registered against Nawaz and Rana Sanaullah will also need to step down,” said Zardari while reiterating his earlier demand.
Zardari added that he has been with Qadri for “a long time” and added the party has always raised its voice against injustice and for the rights of the poor.
When asked about the recent visit of Shehbaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia and Nawaz’s expected trip to the kingdom, the PPP co-chairman said the Sharif brothers always turn towards their foreign friends for support when they are in trouble.
He further said that any decision coming from Saudi will be from the kingdom’s rulers, but “we are free Constitutionally and are autonomous”. The Sharifs say political decisions shouldn’t be taken in courts, said Zardari and expressed hope that Saudi leadership does not help the Sharif brothers in gaining a new NRO.
“They want the help of their friends, but I don’t think we will allow this joke to take place again,” said the former president.
Criticising Nawaz further, the PPP leader said he can count on his fingers the number of times the former prime minister attended the parliament.
“Nawaz is unable to prove his money trail,” said Zardari.
Senior PPP leader Khursheed Shah said all should receive justice and the PPP will not compromise on Model Town. He added it will be a litmus test if the poor get justice.
At the start of the press conference, Qadri thanked Zardari and the PPP for the support lent to PAT in its quest for justice in the Model Town case.
Party leaders Qamar Zaman Kaira, Manzoor Watoo, Sardar Latif Khosa and Khursheed Shah accompanied the PPP supremo, who left Bilawal House in Bahria Town for Qadri’s residence earlier today.
The former president and PPP chairman held a consultative meeting of the party’s leadership ahead of the meeting.
According to PPP sources, a future course of action following the Model Town inquiry report and the Dec 30 All Parties Conference (APC) called by Qadri will be discussed during the meeting.
The two leaders also met on December 7 and in a news conference demanded the resignation of Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the wake of the Model Town inquiry report.
The Punjab government, at the behest of the Lahore High Court, made the report for the Model Town incident public on December 5. The report was drafted by Justice Baqir Najfi and termed the 2014 tragedy in Lahore’s Model Town as the “most unfortunate incident” in the country’s history.
The APC called by the Pakistan Awami Tehreek will be held on 30 December.
