PPP decides to deal Karachi unrest with iron hand

PPP, Karachi situation, Asif Zardari, Yousuf Raza Gilani

The meeting was jointly presided over by PPP Co-Chairman President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Photo by Online

ISLAMABAD: The senior leadership of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Saturday decided to deal with an iron hand, without discrimination, with those involved in targeted killings in Karachi.

The meeting was jointly presided over by PPP Co-Chairman President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

The meeting that began deliberations here Friday night at the Aiwan-i-Sadr and continued till the early hours of Saturday morning, appreciated the measures taken by the Interior Ministry to restore law and order and vowed to restore normalcy in the city at all costs.

Spokesperson to President Farhatullah Babar said that Interior Minister Senator Rehman Malik gave a detailed briefing on the law and order situation and the recent spate of targeted killings in Karachi and steps taken so far to restore normalcy in the city. The meeting also took serious note of the sacking of over 4,000 employees of KESC.

Expressing the view that the sacking of such large scale employees was against the spirit of the agreement under which KESC was privatised, the meeting called to taking appropriate steps to protect the legitimate interests of the employees and protect them from arbitrary dismissals and sackings.

The overall political ! situatio n in the country, matters relating to relations with the coalition partners, the law and order situation obtaining in the country with particular reference to the situation in Karachi, and Party matters were also discussed during the meeting.

The meeting was attended by Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, leader of the House in Senate, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Minister for Commerce, Chaudhary Ahmad Mukhtar, Minister for Defence, Nazar Mohammed Gondal, Minister for Food and Agriculture, Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Rehman Malik, Minister for Interior, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah, Minister for Labour and Manpower, Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Babar Awan, Minister for Law and Justice, Raja Pervaz Ashraf, Minister for Water and Power , Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, Advisor to PM, Senator Jahangir Badar, Senator Faisal Raza Abidi, Rukhsana Bangash, MNA, Fauzia Wahab, MNA, Fauzia Habib, MNA and Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar.

Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that the meeting decided to appoint a three member committee comprising of Raja Pervaz Ashraf, Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah and Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, to resolve the issue of KESC employees expeditiously in consultation with the Sindh provincial chief minister and the governor.

The meeting took note that the provincial government of Sindh had also set up a committee to look into the issue. The three-member Committee was therefore tasked to immediately get in touch with all concerned and take appropriate steps to help resolve the issue of employees sacking.

The meeting reiterated the PPPs commitment to standby the working classes. It recalled that in line with this commitment the government recently reinstated through an Act of the Parliament the employees sacked in the past. It reiterated its resolve not to abandon the labour and the working classes.

The meeting a! lso deci ded that the expenses on the building of Benazir Bhuttos memorial in Islamabad will be borne by the PPP and will not be met out of the public funds.

The President apprised the meeting about his recent visits to USA and UAE and his talks with President Obama and other leaders.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani briefed the partys senior leadership on the prevailing economic situation in the country and the steps being taken to address the economic issues.

President Zardari directed that special measures be taken to address the problems of common people particularly those relating to alleviating poverty and providing employment to the people. He directed that a monitoring committee be set up to constantly evaluate the progress made in this regard.

The President also advised that appropriate steps be taken to benefit from the offer made by the Bill Gates Foundation during his visit to the US to provide free immunisation services to the people against various diseases particularly polio.


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