Updated on
Summary
President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday presided over yet another consultative meeting of the PPP, the second during the past five weeks. The meeting was essentially a brain storming session to discuss within the party a host of political issues that have to come to the fore in the light of recent developments, said Farhatullah Babar spokesperson to the President while briefing the media about the meeting. Addressing the meeting President said that the brainstorming meeting was aimed at making a frank, dispassionate and critical review of the overall political situation in the country and invite the participants to give their candid views on various issues of concern. The Partys Co Chairman President Asif Ali Zardari reiterated the Partys commitment to uphold the principles laid down in the Charter of Democracy signed in May 2006 and also to the principles enshrined in the Partys manifesto. The President said that the setting up of the Parliamentary Committee was a welcome development to purge the Constitution of all anti democracy clauses introduced into it by dictatorial regimes. The President said that power shortage in the country during summer had resulted in public discontent and asked the Water and Power Minister to ensure that the private power producers fulfilled their contractual obligations to bring all their projects on line before the end of the year. He said that government will not brook any delay in the completion of the rental power projects. Farhatullah Babar said that the President also asked the Petroleum Minister Naveed Qamar to furnish a report on 16 gas fields in Sindh reportedly abandoned by the OGDC as depleted fields. With modern technology the abandoned gas fields can be reactivated to produce more gas to meet the countrys growing needs, he said.
