THE government has done well in quashing wild rumours about a plan to replace President Asif Ali Zardari.
Senator Irfan Siddiqui, Parliamentary Party Leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the Senate and Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, categorically rejected any change in the President’s Office, calling reports on the matter baseless. Similarly, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has also dismissed rumours about the possible removal of President Asif Ali Zardari, stating that some people are uncomfortable because politicians, the government and the military stand united.
The denial assumes significance as it comes from personalities like Irfan Siddiqui and Mohsin Naqvi, who, by virtue of their status in the power circles, are quite familiar with political moves. Otherwise too, there seems to be no justification for rocking the boat when the system was functioning well and delivering because of smooth relationship among coalition partners. Differences of opinion notwithstanding, the PML(N) and the PPP have been cooperating in a positive framework in the spirit of give and take. Both President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif believe in national reconciliation and at no point of time the head of the state created any major problem for the government. There are reasons to believe that rumours about a possible change at the Presidency are being spread by vested interests who want to sow seeds of disunity between the two major coalition partners. We hope the two parties would continue mutual cooperation so as to address political and economic challenges through collective wisdom and in an atmosphere of strength and stability.
