Lahore:
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), despite rejecting rumors surrounding the withdrawal of President Asif Ali Zardari, seemed to be annoyed by the frequency to which such speculations have reached consumer media.
Some within the party felt a calendar agenda behind consecutive discussions concerning the future of the president. The last of these wandering rumors suggested that the president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif, wanted to become president of Pakistan.
The rumor was raised during a talk show on a private television channel and was put in front of Senator PML-N Irfan Siddiqui, who rejected it as a manufactured story. However, he said that no position in politics is absolute: “We can not comment on what could happen tomorrow.”
“There was a time when it was inconceivable to think that ASIF Zardari would become the president of the country,” added Siddiqui. He argued that Nawaz Sharif does not have such an ambition and that the question has never been discussed.
It was the second time that such rumors were heading for the airwaves. Earlier, there were strong rumors suggesting that the army chief aspired to become president and that Zardari’s departure was imminent. According to sources close to Zardari, these reports had disrupted the president.
A party leader, who interacted with Zardari at that time, said that although the party leaders called on foundation rumors, Zardari considered them “smoke which is never without fire”. He would have been uncomfortable and would have asked for the clarity of the question. On occasion, the Minister of the Interior Mohin Naqvi publicly denied speculation.
PPP Central Secretary of Information Nadeem AFZAL Chan, addressing The Express PK Press Clubsaid that there was no truth in untreated media speculations. He stressed that the president’s abolition was not a “walk in the park”.
“There is an intense constitutional mechanism which must be followed to dismiss the president. As things are found, even if there is such a desire within the PML-N, they simply do not have their teeth to do it,” he said.
Chan added that PML-N leaders should refrain from reminding the president of his constitutional limits. “Because when the PPP takes them on this offer and holds a mirror, they will start moaning.”
A PPP chief said there had been a premeditated effort to maintain the pressure party. “It happened once again to ignore them as reflection after the thinking of researchers desperate with attention,” he said. “If someone thinks the PPP will move from its position, it is seriously wrong.”
He hypothesized that the PML-N or the Minister of the Interior Mohin Naqvi could be the cause of rumors. “Naqvi has great ambitions, and to achieve his goal, nothing is prohibited,” he said.
Attempts were made to join Senator Irfan Siddiqui to comment, but they proved to be unsuccessful.
