Zardari to undertake 3-day Peshawar visit from September 15

PESHAWAR: Former President Asif Ali Zardari will visit the provincial capital from September 15 to 17 while the September 14 public meeting of Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Hathian village in Mardan district has been postponed due to security reasons.

During his three-day visit to Peshawar, Zardari will meet people from different walks of life and also attend the wedding ceremony of the son of former federal minister Arbab Alamgir Khan and Asma Alamgir.

Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Ziaullah Afridi, who recently joined the PPP after being expelled from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), will arrange a reception for Zardari, who is the co-chairman of the party.

Certain PPP leaders in separate chats with The News said that arrangements had been finalised to accord a warm welcome to Zardari.

Without naming anyone, they said that leaders of different political parties would also announce joining the PPP during Zardari’s visit.

Former provincial senior minister Rahimdad Khan, who hails from Hathian village in Mardan, said that the forthcoming visit of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to his village had been postponed.

“There is some confusion at the higher level. The next date for the public meeting will be announced soon,” he added.

The PPP leaders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were of the opinion that the next visit of Zardari was quite important as it would boost the party’s activities and help overcome organisational issues.

The provincial president of the party, Humayun Khan, said that it was for the first time in the party’s history that the party chief a few months ago spent five days in Peshawar instead of the scheduled two days. “During that visit, the party co-chairman established rapport with the people by meeting delegations belonging to different walks of life and PPP workers from across the province,” he recalled.

Humayun Khan was hopeful about PPP victory in the next election with the active support of party workers and supporters. Arguing that the situation this time was different than 2013, he said the party candidates were not allowed to carry out their campaign in those polls. He said the PPP lost many leaders and workers including former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, but now the central leadership would run the election campaign of the candidates and attend big public meetings.

He argued that the Supreme Court of Pakistan disqualified Nawaz Sharif as Prime Minister on corruption charges. He maintained that the PTI rulers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and its chairman Imran Khan were also facing cases of corruption and misuse of power. “Besides, the PTI leadership wasted time on useless protests and sit-ins” he pointed out.

He claimed both the PML-N and PTI had lost the confidence of the people and would be rejected in the next polls.

“The PTI obtained votes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the name of change and accountability, but the way its provincial leaders used their own Ehtesab Commission against political opponents exposed their intentions,” he argued.