Reshuffle in PPP Set-ups in Sindh, AJK Aired: Ishaq Replaces Sultan
Pakistan Times National News Desk

ISLAMABAD: A significant reshuffle in diverse ranks of the Pakistan People Party [PPP], explicitly in Sindh and Azad Kashmir was announced by the Party Chairperson, Ms Benazir Bhutto on Friday.

PPP in Azad Kashmir

Amid this change, PPP set-up in Azad Kashmir eventually faced a lucid reorder as its’ chief, Barrister Sultan Mahmood was removed with the induction to the top slot of a party stalwart, Sahibzada Ishaq Zafar.

Zafar and Sultan have been feeling uneasy with each other since long. And majority of the people, affixed with the AJK chapter of the Pakistan Peoples Party was insisting for the positioning of the Sahibzada to lead the party in Azad Kashmir.

Sultan, who started his political career with Azad Muslim Conference, authored by his father, the Kashmiri leader, Choudhry Noor Hussain, who later on abandoned the All Jammu & Kashmir Muslim Conference, a party which was generated by the top leader of the Himalyan State, late Choudhry Ghulam Abbas and is now led by the ex-President of Azad Kashmir, Sardar Muhammad Abdul Qayyum Khan.

The Barrister, later switched-over to Jammu & Kashmir Liberation League and finally joined the Peoples Party. “He [Barrister Sultan] could not reflect the aspirations of the party-workers in line with the PPP manifesto”, analysts, having leaning towards Ishaq Zafar said, while reacting to the restructure communiqué.

Babar's Perceptions

However, when contacted to PPP Chairperson's spokesman, Senator Farhatullah Babar told 'Pakistan Times' Friday evening that organizational changes in the Party in AJK were ‘based on the principle of separation of the Party office from the Parliamentary office.’

New Set-up

With Ishaq Zafar as President of PPP in AJK, Chaudhry Yaseen has been assigned as the General Secretary, ex-Speaker of the AJK Legislative Assembly, Chaudhry Majeed as Senior Vice-President, Lateef Akbar to be the Vice Presiden and Matloob Inquilabi as the Information Secretary.

Party Changes in Sindh

In Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah shall work as President while Provincial Party offices and Parliamentary offices in Frontier and Baluchistan have already been separated.

The other Changes, effected are:

PPP Karachi Division

Rashid Rabbani, President
Haji Muzaffar Shujra Member Provincial Council.

Habib ud Din Junedi has been appointed as labor representative to work with Senator Enwar Baig.

Nisar Ahmed Khuhro and Barrister Sultan Mehmood will continue as Leaders of Parliamentary group of the Pakistan Peoples Party in Sindh and AJK respectively.

Perspective

Announcing the decisions a spokesperson of the Party said that discussions for improvement in the organizational structure of the Party have been taking place over the last two years since the holding of Parliamentary elections in October-2002.

‘It was concluded that the demands of parliamentary office and that of Provincial President placed too heavy a responsibility on a single individual and it was decided that the offices of President of the Provincial Party and the Parliamentary leader should be separated.’

Makhdoom Amin Faheem took all the old and new office bearers into confidence over the changes in light of the Chairperson's instructions, the spokesman said.

The provincial organizations will continue to remain as the main organizations in the field to mobilize workers and the people. The term for the new office bearers has been fixed for two years.

Optimism by Ms Benazir

‘While making the changes the Chairperson, Ms Benazir Bhutto paid tributes to the services of all the outgoing office bearers and lauded their commitment to the Party and hoped that they would extend all cooperation to the new office bearers.

She also asked the new office bearers to seek cooperation of and benefit from the experience of the outgoing office bearers,’ the PPP spokesman said by adding; ‘the Chairperson emphasized on the new office bearers to step up mass contacts with the public and to focus on issues that are of local importance to people in different districts.’

She has also asked them ‘to reach out to the people and explain to them the commitment of the Party to provide jobs to the unemployed and work for human development by improving facilities for providing education, health, water supply and other basic needs of the people’.●