Daily Times

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Vice-President Maryam Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met at Bilawal House Naudero, Larkana, on Monday and agreed to take Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) with a mutually formulated strategy for upcoming activities, a private TV channel reported.

Both leaders discussed the political situation in the country and termed December 27 gathering at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh successful. Maryam was also apprised about the ministerial committee report about alleged abduction of her husband Captain (r) Safdar.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Information Nasir Hussain Shah, Education Minister Saeed Ghani and Barrister Murtaza Wahab were also present in the meeting.

The PML-N vice president extended an invitation to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari and Faryal Talpur to visit Jati Umra, Raiwind, which was accepted by the PPP leadership.

Earlier, Maryam Nawaz visited the Bhutto family graveyard and prayed for the departed souls of former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and other family members. Bilawal Bhutto accompanied Maryam during the visit to the Bhutto family mausoleum where Aseefa Bhutto received the PML-N delegation. According to reports, the delegation laid a floral wreath at the tomb of Benazir, her father and brothers.

Maryam along with Captain (r) Safdar and other party leaders – Parvez Rashid, former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair and Marriyum Aurangzeb – also visited the Shuhada Galley [martyrs’ gallery] where pictures of PPP leaders and workers who lost their lives in Karsaz bomb blast and other incidents were displayed. The PML-N delegation paid rich tribute to PPP workers and leaders who made the ultimate scarifies for the dispensation of democracy in the country.

The date of PDM leaders’ meeting, which has been convened to discuss Senate and by-elections, has been changed, and now it will be held at Jati Umra on January 1.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman will chair the meeting. Sources said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari will attend the meeting via video link.

Apart from discussing Senate and by-elections, opposition leaders will also finalise the future course of action with respect to protest demonstrations across the country.

On December 27, the PDM leaders gathered in Naudero in connection with the 13th death anniversary of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto (BB). During the December 27 rally, Bilawal, while paying tribute to his late mother Benazir Bhutto, had said her ideology is still alive whereas those who fought with her are nowhere to be seen. “The grave of [former military dictator] Ziaul Haq is deserted whereas Gen Musharraf is living a life of a coward [in self-imposed exile],” he had said.

He had said that under the PTI-led government, millions of people were compelled to live below the poverty line and people belonging to all walks of life were suffering hardships. He had said he could not accept that the country was being run under a true democratic system because people and political parties were deprived of their rights and freedom of speech. He has said that PM Imran’s ‘selectors’ installed him into power but they could not give him the ability to run the country. “Imran Khan will be held accountable for the unprecedented rise in the prices of essential commodities and making the lives of masses miserable,” he had said.

In her remarks, Maryam had sent regards to the crowd in Sindhi and thanked the PPP leadership particularly Bilawal Bhutto for receiving her at their hometown in extremely cold weather. She had said not only PPP was mourning the death of Benazir Bhutto but the entire nation including her party was saddened due to the assassination of former prime minister 13 years ago.

Maryam had said she was inspired by Benazir because she laid down her life while fighting the cause of her late father Zulfikar Ali Bhuto, adding that the political parties rectified their mistakes and stopped conspiring against each other after realising that it helped the anti-democratic forces to exploit the weaknesses of the political leaders.