JEDDAH, 29 January 2005 — Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim said here on Thursday that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is unlikely to join any campaign against the federal government.
“The PPP has compromised with the government and will not go against it. We must not forget how Asif Ali Zardari was released and allowed to leave the country recently,” Arbab, who was in the Kingdom to perform Haj, said.
Referring to the recent meeting of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) top leadership here, he said it would have no bearing on Pakistan’s politics. He described the meeting as “another exercise in futility.”
“There is nothing significant about the meeting, they have met in the past, they will meet in future too, but will never come out with anything tangible. Their meeting looks more like a circus than a serious political exercise,” Arbab said.
MMA leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Hafiz Saeed Ahmad on Thursday met here with PML-N top leaders including former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chaudhry Nisar to discuss the political situation in Pakistan. The three leaders were here to perform Haj.
Earlier, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, president of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and the MMA chief, said here in a statement the military government was not capable of solving the country’s political problems.
The opposition holds the government accountable for the deteriorating law and order situation in Pakistan.
“These parties are united on the floor of the house against the government but have failed to make any impact. Pakistanis understand that and they are not heeding their calls against the issue of President Pervez Musharraf’s military uniform. So, after failing miserably on that account, they have raised other issues — the economy and the security situation in the country,” Arbab said.
On the contrary, the MMA claims that the campaign against Musharraf was gaining momentum. “The response to our recent call against him was poor only because we have restrained the people from creating a chaotic situation,” says the MMA.
Describing the present economic situation as the best in the history of Pakistan, the Sindh chief minister said, “The country’s economy is growing and the foreign reserves have increased steadily under Musharraf,” he said.
Blasting MMA and other opposition parties Arbab said: “These parties are only worried about their own political standing in the country’s maturing democracy in which there would not be any room for extremist ideologies. “Today they are talking about the future of democracy in Pakistan.
“But I would like to remind them that they had once vigorously opposed PPP’s elected government and campaigned against a woman ruling the country,” Arbab said.
“They are the people who were against the government of Benazir Bhutto under the pretext that being a woman she should not lead the government. But now they are hobnobbing with her in order to pursue their own vested interests.”
About the future of his provincial government, the Sindh leader was confident that it will complete its term. “We have a good political understanding with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the government will complete its tenure, “Arbab added.
