The presidency will be opened on Monday for a day to enable people from all walks of life to offer condolences to President Asif Ali Zardari on the death of his father. The president returned here from Benazirabad last night after the soyem held on Wednesday evening.
In a statement on Friday, spokesperson to President, Farhatullah Babar said that in view of the large number of people wishing to condole with the president and that individual condolence calls are not feasible, the president directed that Monday be reserved for receiving the condolences calls. The condolences will be received from people in groups, he added.
According to the programme, condolence meetings will start with the staff of president's secretariat at 1345 hours to 1400 hours to be followed by condolences from foreign diplomats from 1400 to 1430 hours. Services chiefs will also call on the president. The ministers and members of parliament, political figures and government officials will call on president for 30 minutes from 1500 to 1530 hours. The president will receive condolences from civil society organisations, writers, journalists and people from all walks of life from 1530 to 1600 hours. Leaders and workers of PPP will call on the president from 1600 to 1630 hours to offer their condolences on that day, the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile in a separate statement, the president thanked all those that participated in the funeral of his father or visited Zardari House in Benazirabad and sent messages and made telephone calls to offer condolences. "The outpouring of sympathy and affection of the people in this hour of personal grief is a source of strength for me and my family to bear the loss with fortitude", he said. He said that the thought and realisation that so many people have been around to share it made the grief and pain less unbearable.-PR
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.