Islamabad May 22, 2008: The Pakistan Peoples Party condemns and rejects inspired media reports warning the coalition government that if it tried to clip the powers of the President or proposed his impeachment in the upcoming constitutional package, President Musharraf would immediately react to thwart any move aimed at curtailing his powers.

A section of the media today reported that President Musharraf told a PML-Q delegation that he did not trust PPP Co-Chairman Senator Asif Ali Zardari and that he would react sharply if the political forces moved to clip his wings.

Spokesperson of the Party Farhatullah Babar said in a statement today that the PPP and its Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari were keen to win and retain the trust and confidence of the people of Pakistan and not that of any one individual.

He said that the Party was determined to correct the imbalance of power between the Presidency and the Parliament House in accordance with the Charter of Democracy and recognized democratic principles, no matter whether it pleased or annoyed any one.

It appears that through deliberate media leaks some vested interests were seeking to browbeat the political parties into submission and dissuade them from restoring Parliamentary supremacy through appropriate constitutional amendments.

These vested interests are doomed to be frustrated in their designs to pressure the coalition government into giving up the proposed constitutional changes to make the Parliament genuinely supreme, the PPP spokesperson said. It is a lesson of the history that dictators who steal wings through deceit, subterfuge and brute force have them clipped when democratic forces reassert themselves, he said.

“Through their martyrdom two generations of Bhuttos have taught the Party that the locus of power lies with the poor and downtrodden people and not with gun wielding dictators”. The Party has not and will never forget this lesson.

“Musharraf trusting or not trusting PPP and Mr. Asif Ali Zardari is immaterial as long as the Party enjoys the trust of the people as was evident from the February 18 elections”.

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