Rebel PPP leader Fahim says Zardari holding party hostage

Islamabad, July 15 : Senior PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who was the front runner for the post of Pakistan prime minister before Yousuf Raza Gilani was installed in the post after February 18 general polls, has said that the party was held hostage by Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, who, he added, was only meeting his vested interests by leading the party.

Explaining as to how the party was being kept hostage, he said the federal government's policies reflected an overall state of affairs and that there was a mess everywhere. "The law and order situation is worsening, people are committing suicide along with their children, frontiers are unsafe, prices are rampantly rising and terrorist acts are increasing in the country," he said.

Further elaborating, he said that the Gilani government was 'fully responsible' for the sorry state of affairs. "Suicides, price-hike and law and order are totally out of the control of the government. Being a senior member, it is my foremost duty to pinpoint flaws and faults in the party affairs as well as the government. If they (the party leadership) consider it a violation of party discipline than I would stand by my position," he said and added: "Ironically, the government did nothing to improve these areas despite the passage of over a hundred days."

Fahim said that he was ready to face the consequences if Zardari issues a show cause notice for his statement against the party leadership, and added: "I stand for spearheading the mission of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto."

"I am fully prepared to face all possible consequences, including a show-cause notice from the Zardari-led leadership. The party is being kept in habeas corpus by the incumbent leaders and the country's overall situation is worsening," The News quoted Fahim as saying.

Currently, Fahim is president of the Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) in the National Assembly.

The party has been taken hostage by a few new entrants and elements with vested interest in its ranks, he said and added "If the party seems it fit, it should issue a show-cause notice to me and I will respond to it properly."

ANI