LAHORE: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) held a public meeting in NA-120 after a break of two decades. Former premier Yousaf Raza Gilani was scheduled to chair the public meeting but he failed to show up. Later, PPP Central Punjab General Secretary Nadeem Afzal Chan chaired it. In his speech, Chan said that his party had reemerged and would succeed to gain momentum for next general election. He urged sacked prime minister Nawaz Sharif to face references in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) bravely as PPP leadership did in the past. NA-120 PPP contestant Faisal Mir demanded that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi issue red warrants to bring former president Pervez Musharraf back to Pakistan as the commando was main accused in the Benazir Bhutto’s killing. He said that there are contradictions in nomination papers of PML-N candidate Kulsoom Nawaz. He also criticised PTI candidate Dr Yasmin Rashid and said she got 52,000 votes for her old affiliation with PPP. He demanded that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) call the army on polling day to bar PML-N goons from scaring the voters away. PPP leaders Samina Khalid Ghurki, Rai Shahjahan, Imran Athwal, Aslam Gill and Azizur Rehman Chan also addressed the public gathering. Faisal Mir’s daughter also addressed the gathering. The meeting was organised in Krishan Nagar which is a hub of business activity. The party flags, posters and banners were installed in the area. Prominent PPP leaders from NA-120 Sobia Shamim Niazi, Afan Butt, Javed Imran Khan, Arif Khan, Khuram Gujjar and Rehmat Shah joined the gathering with their supporters. The PPP leaders urged people to vote for the PPP candidate if they wanted to strengthen democracy. Published in Daily Times, September 1st 2017.