PPP holds General Raheel Sharif in high esteem: Sherry Rehman

PPP Vice-President Senator Sherry Rehman said this to reporters after an iftar hosted by PPP Co-Chairman and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari adding that “We are talking about former military dictators who’ve assumed power and are trying to return to the political front.”

Ms Rehman was joined in by former information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira who said that the party fully backed Mr Zardari’s speech that he made a couple of days ago, which was seen by most people as a broadside against the military.

Iftar hosted by PPP’s Asif Zardari

The iftar itself was attended by several political party leaders except those of the PML-N, JI and PTI. The PML-N said that it was not invited while the PTI and JI chiefs excused themselves.

CH4O-X_UcAAjzfJ — Maulana Fazlur Rahman and Ch Shujaat Hussain attend PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s iftar dinner. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari can also be seen in the picture.

CH4Pm5MUkAA_DL0 — The ANP’s Mian Iftikhar Hussain, and the MQM’s Farooq Sattar and Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui at Mr Zardari’s iftar

In such a situation, all eyes were on Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman who also served as the chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir during last PPP-led government, but, the JUI-F chief also excused citing personal engagements.

On the other hand, Pashtunkhwa Mili Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai also seemed unhappy with the anti-military speech of the former president and he too did not come to attend the dinner.

Those who came to attend Zardari-hosted Iftar dinner were representatives from Awami National Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid.

With major political parties holding back from attending Asif Ali Zardari’s Iftar dinner made one thing evident that this time the ‘magic of reconciliation’ failed to charm several political leaders.