President taking part in political meetings astonishes PPP: Farhatullah Babar

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party is astonished that unlike former President Asif Ali Zardari the incumbent President Mamnoon Hussain is no longer restrained by the court order to refrain from participating in partisan political meetings.
 
In a statement late Monday night Spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the then President Asif Ali Zardari had been restrained by court observations from holding party meetings as such meetings were regarded as political activities and not in keeping with the dignity and non-partisan nature of the office of the head of the state.
 
The then president, respecting the court orders, scrupulously restrained himself from taking meetings of party legislators and workers in the Presidency even though he had serious reservations about it, he said.
 
He said that the press release issued Monday has revealed for the first time that the restrain did not apply to the incumbent President Mr. Mamnoon Hussain.
 
“Even though astonishing it vindicates the PPP’s principled position on the issue”.
 
Farhatullah Babar said that the Party always believed that the President is elected by the Parliament, itself created through a political activity and having members drawn from all political parties.
 
The President is an integral part of the Parliament comprising of representatives from all political parties. He is required by the Constitution to address both Houses assembled together every year for a sermon of political nature. However, despite the obvious political nature of the office of the head of the sate the former President Mr. Asif Ali Zardari discontinued meeting party parliamentarians and workers in the Presidency out of respect to the court observations.
 
Clearly the double standards followed floats on the surface of the record. Such double standards being practiced in respect of a PPP president and non PPP president however is part of déjà vu as the Party has endured many such double standards in the past , he said.
 
The PPP wonders how and why Mr. Mamnoon Hussain presiding over meetings directing the setting up of district political committees of his party PML_N is not politicking but Zardari addressing Party MPs and workers in the Presidency is politicking, Senator Farhatullah Babar said. But wonders do not cease in this land of the pure when the party and individuals to be judged belong to the PPP, he said.