Musharraf faces angry tea party
By Muhammad Ahmad Noorani
ISLAMABAD: President Pervez Musharraf surprised a group of PML-Q senators by appearing without notice at their tea party with caretaker Prime Minister Muhammadmian Soomro, but had to face unexpected criticism from many angry senators who blamed him for the election rout of the party.
The senators had gathered at the Prime Minister House for a tea party given to the allies of the PML-Q in the Senate. Some 40 senators showed up amid reports that the PPP and the PML-N were planning to unseat the Senate chairman and replace him with their own candidate.
Soomro, who will revert to his Senate post once the new government is formed, wanted to know whether any more PML-Q senators were thinking of joining the forward bloc. But the total number of senators gathered at the meeting was far less than 51, which is the number needed by Soomro to stay in his office.
President Musharraf's surprise to the senators had a mixed reaction though he was quoted by several TV channels as saying that he patted the defeated PML-Q on the back and encouraged it not to lose heart.
One TV report said the president even quoted the total number of votes obtained by the PML-Q and its previous coalition partners in the elections to assert that the alliance had received the highest number of votes. This figure was recently repeated several times by PML-Q Secretary-General Mushahid Hussain Sayed to reassure the defeated party leaders that the PML-Q was still a potent force.
Analysts said the president was worried that if the Zardari-Nawaz alliance took over the Senate chairmanship from Soomro, the coalition would come dangerously close to entering the Presidency because the Senate chairman always served as the acting president whenever needed.
In such a situation, an acting president could create havoc with the powers of the Presidency if he got sufficient time to stay there. The real surprise of the Musharrafs visit was the criticism he had to face as senator after senator got up to blame him for the partys colossal collapse at the polls.
Senator Kulsoom Perveen told The News many senators complained that the president had left the party alone and did not support them during the election, which resulted in their humiliating defeat.
"You could have controlled the fake crisis of flour, electricity and gas created by the establishment just to defeat us," Perveen quoted senators as telling Musharraf. However, she said Musharraf made an impressive speech on the occasion and told the PML-Q senators to not lose heart over the defeat and remain united in the opposition.
"You people could play a positive role while being in the opposition and your role will strengthen the institutions," she quoted the president as saying during the tea party. Senator Tariq Azeem, who resigned on Tuesday from his party office, told this correspondent that the PML-Q senators were invited to tea by the caretaker prime minister and the arrival of President Musharraf was a surprise. He admitted that the PML-Q senators criticised the president for not supporting them during the elections.
But, he said Musharraf defended him by saying that being the president, it was his duty to remain impartial and, as such, he did not support any party. Azeem quoted the president as saying that there were always ups and downs in politics.
"Our seats are less but we got higher number of votes," Azeem quoted him as saying. While responding to a question by this correspondent, Azeem said: "On seeing the body language of President Musharraf, it was not apparent that he will quit the Presidency soon." He said it was the first meeting of the president with the senators after the elections.
He admitted that the meeting of President Musharraf with the senators of a specific party was not a right step at this crucial stage as he represented the federation. However, at the same time, he said the president could meet the members of any party but if they did not want to meet him, it was not the president's fault.
Azeem also said that there had been many meetings of political leaders with the president, which the media had not been able to find out. He, however, did not mention the name of the leaders who secretly met the president.
Senator Muhammad Nasir Mengal said that President Musharraf talked about general things and told the PML-Q senators that he had fulfilled his promise to hold free and fair elections and that he was looking forward to working with the new government for the next five years. He said the president told the senators that he had been elected for the next five years and that he would continue and would complete his term.
PML-Q Senator from Balochistan Mohabbat Khan Marri told The News that the president agreed with their complaint that one of the major reasons for the PML-Qs defeat was the price-hike. He said the PML-Q senators took advantage of the situation and opened their hearts, telling Musharraf that he had failed to cooperate with the party at a difficult time.
Senators Saeed Hashmi and former information minister Muhammad Ali Durrani told The News that they were not present in the meeting. Meanwhile, sources told The News that more than 10 PML-Q senators were absent.
Rehana Yahya Baloch told The News that the president mainly stressed on maintaining unity during the difficult time. She said the PML-Q got the highest number of votes so it would remain united in the opposition and would not favour any move to repeal the Article 58-2(B).
Rehana also admitted that in the present scenario, the address of the president to the PML-Q senators was not a good democratic tradition but she said the president did not convince them to favour him during any move in the house against him. "It was simply a tea party and a get together with the outgoing prime minister where the president also showed up."
Musharraf faces angry tea party