PPP leaders ask NRO ministers to resign

Monday November 23, 2009 (1056 PST)

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LAHORE: Close aides of slain PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto including one of the authors of the Charter of Democracy (CoD) have demanded of the public office-holders, who benefited from the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), to voluntarily step down in the best interest of the party.

Three main PPP leaders — Naheed Khan, Senator Dr Safdar Abbasi and Nawab MuhammadYousaf Talpur, a PPP MNA accused of getting benefit from the NRO - have said the party members holding ministries should present themselves for accountability and face cases in courts, as the step would help the party regain its popularity and image, lost due to constant backtracking on various issues in the past 5-6 months.

Senator Abbasi, who was one of the authors of the CoD from the PPP side, apart from Aitzaz Ahsan and Raza Rabbani, told our sources he was the first person to ask the NRO beneficiaries to resign from their public offices.

Central leader Naheed Khan seconded these views saying any step that could improve image of the PPP would be commendable. She said constitutionally the president enjoyed immunity, but others who didn’t enjoy any such constitutional cover, should voluntarily resign and come forward to face their cases.

Nawab Talpur, a former federal minister and now an MNA from Sindh, told this scribe the recent statement of Prime Minister Gilani, in which he offered tendering resignation if his wife is found an NRO beneficiary, was an example that should be followed by all ministers. He said the public office-bearers should decide over the issue keeping in view moral values. He said inclusion of his name in the list of NRO beneficiaries came as a surprise to him. Neither he nor his counsel ever approached the court to seek benefit under the NRO, he added.

He said he was implicated in Ursus Tractor Scheme reference, which was never heard by any court after 2000, adding that being a co-accused in the case, which was dropped by the court, no action was due against him.

However, when asked what would be his own line of action as he himself was an MNA, he said he would appear before the court, as he was not an accused, but a co-accused in the case. He said he was a public representative, not a public office-bearer and they should resign and face their cases in the courts.

End.