ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party leader Qamar Zaman Kaira on Friday said the party was not part of any political compromise and neither would be in the future.
Referring to the recent meetings between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan (MQM-P), a move by the two parties to replace the incumbent opposition leader in the lower house, Qaira said there has been no greater compromise in Pakistan’s political history than the one between PTI and MQM.
The PPP leaders spoke to the media after a party meeting in Islamabad, discussing the issue of MQM and PTI wanting to remove PPP’s Khursheed Shah as leader of the opposition.
“We are confident to retain Khursheed Shah as the opposition leader since we have the required support,” said PPP’s Nayyar Bukhari.
“If anyone wants to replace the opposition leader, they may fulfil their desire.”
The PPP leaders also expressed suspicion over MQM-P's move to be part of the initiative to remove Shah as leader of the opposition, and said the party might have been "pushed".
Kaira added the party trusted Shah and that no one can get the required support over their wish.”Our allies are with us.”
When asked of the discussion held in the party meeting, the PPP leader said that they have a strategy but they can not share their internal discussions.
"It is unusual for us to gather in Muharram, but it was a necessity," said the PPP leader and added that they will indulge in discussion whenever necessary.
Regarding Malik Riaz's visit to Nawaz Sharif, Qaira said Riaz went to meet in his personal capacity and is not acting as a middleman between PPP and PML-N.
Recently, MQM-P and PTI joined hands to change leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, when heads of both the parties met in Karachi.
During the meeting, PTI’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi and MQM-P’s Farooq Sattar expressed dissatisfaction with Shah and agreed on consulting other parties in the opposition over the matter.