ISLAMABAD, 18 April 2005 — Senior leaer of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Asif Zardari called for the release of his party workers and showed his willingness to initiate a dialogue with the government yesterday.
Speaking at a news conference in Lahore, Zardari demanded the release of the hundreds of opposition activists and offered to negotiate with the government.
“But I want to make it clear that we do not want negotiations for any personal gain. We want negotiations for democracy and human rights,” he said.
“The strategy of the people’s party is to hold a dialogue with the establishment while also motivating people,” Zardari said.
Zardari was briefly detained Saturday upon his arrival in Lahore from a visit to his wife former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Dubai. He said upto 70,000 of PPP activists were also detained to prevent him from holding a rally.
Some of the senior PPP leaders were released later, but hundreds of party workers remained in custody yesterday.
Authorities deployed thousands of police Saturday to block access to the city’s airport ahead of the return of Zardari, from Dubai.
Dozens of members and lawmakers from the PPP were freed after being detained for violating a ban on public rallies in eastern Punjab province, said its law minister, Raja Basharat. However, Basharat said hundreds of other activists were still being held in Lahore, and elsewhere in the province.
Police baton-charged more than 100 of Zardari’s supporters Saturday and bundled many into vans after they managed to slip through the police blockade.
At least three people were injured. Zardari had planned to hold a rally in Lahore, and the opposition had trumpeted his return as a test of President Pervez Musharraf’s commitment to democracy and tolerance of political opponents.
But on Saturday, police whisked Zardari from the plane and took him directly to his home. He condemned the government for heavy-handed treatment meted to him.
