Zaman volunteers to help restore PPP in Punjab

HYDERABAD: Sarwari Jamaat spiritual leader and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Makhdoom Jameeluz Zaman told the media at his residence on Sunday that journalists are witnesses of political struggle. “Today’s press conference is being held to talk to the PPP of Punjab.”

Zaman said the PPP was born in Lahore, and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto kept the party united, with Benazir Bhutto breathing a new spirit into the party by making a lot of efforts to rebuild it.

He said that after Benazir’s death, Asif Ali Zardari took charge of the party and reformed it in Punjab between 2008 and 2013, during which both the president and the prime minister of the country belonged to the PPP.

He also said the PPP won three seats in Punjab in 2013, eight in 2018 and seven in 2023. The situation was such that stalwarts like Babar Awan, Sardar Latif Khosa and Uzma Gilani quit the party, he added.

Zaman said the PPP recently won a seat in central Punjab, “and we get to hear the taunts about Form 45 for going there in Punjab. During the general elections, the situation became such that [PPP Chairman] Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was also defeated in Lahore”.

He said PPP workers want Bilawal to become the PM but the party does not have a policy and strategy there. In the upcoming elections the PPP is facing Maryam Nawaz and Imran Khan but the party has nothing to do with new strategies, he added.

He also said Zardari has given the party’s important positions to Punjab’s people but they are still seeing failure. He added that he has written to Bilawal, asking him to hold those responsible for the party’s failure in Punjab accountable. “If the situation continues like this, what will happen to my followers in Punjab. And what will be left of the Jiyalas of the party?”

He clarified that he wants Bilawal to become the PM. “I’m not disappointed with the people, and no one, including me, is not going to leave the party, and neither am I interested in any forward bloc.”

He pointed out that so far no statement has been issued by any PPP leader in Punjab regarding who is responsible for the defeat of Bilawal, nor has the person responsible resigned.

He said replying to a question that there should be an open investigation into the “rigging in the general elections”.

He also said that the PPP is well established in Hala, claiming that even if the party were to lose everywhere else, it would still not be defeated in Hala and Garhi Khuda Bakhsh.

He reiterated that whether the Sindh chief minister changes or not, “I haven’t received a response to the matter of establishing peace and order by conducting an operation in the Kutcha area, on which I’ve written to the IGP”.

Zaman said that the PPP leaders are currently busy in the affairs of governance, adding that that is why they have not found the time to reply to his letters.

He said he does not need any position. “I won’t hold ministries or any other positions, but I’ll continue to work for the party. Any task or assignment, including the restoration of the party in Punjab. It’s the leadership’s call.”

He was also asked if he has any reservations about Haji Ali Hassan Zardari, “who transfers Matiari’s funds to Thatta”, and for not getting a reply from the party leadership on the letter written against Ali Hassan Shah Jamot. He replied that there is a lot to say regarding Ali Hassan, but if he were to talk about him, “disaster will descend on the Matiari district again”.

He also said that no action has been taken against Jamot who violated the code of conduct by not supporting the PPP’s candidates.