Amid expected party membership termination, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi Friday said that he has options to join other political parties if his party membership is cancelled. "I am not in haste; options are there (to join other political parties) let them decide first, then I will announce my future course of action," Qureshi, a PPP leader and former Foreign Minister said while speaking at a news conference here.
Qureshi, who was dropped from the Federal Cabinet in February this year, is currently expecting party's membership termination after PPP Punjab chapter passed a resolution urging party co-chairman and President Asif Ali Zardari to terminate his party membership following Qureshi's meeting with PML-N's chief Mian Nawaz Sharif.
The former foreign minister said that he had met with Mian Nawaz Sharif being a politician, which he thought was not a violation of the party's discipline. He referred to his past meeting with the PML-N chief saying that he had met him many times and even party's slain chairperson Benazir Bhutto sent him to meet Nawaz Sharif while in exile.
He said that his meeting with PML-N chief was being made basis for termination of his party membership despite the fact that Benazir Bhutto herself reconciled with him and both the parties have jointly struggled for the restoration of democracy. Furthermore, he added that the PPP remained in coalition with PML-N in Punjab for almost three years. He was of the view that there was group inside PPP that want to run affairs of the party on the basis of ad hocism.
Qureshi said he has raised the flag of revolt against 'democratic dictatorship' adding that back-benchers of PPP were silent but not unaware and that they were waiting for an appropriate time to come. "Had Mohtarma been alive, would 'this man' be able to occupy the position he is in?" he asked without naming anybody.
When asked which party will he prefer to join if terminated from the PPP, he said that he would announce after the party decision adding that he enjoys old friendship with PTI chief Imran Khan and Mian Nawaz Sharif was a seasoned politician. Referring to the PPP's alliance with PML-Q, Qureshi said party workers were disappointed as those who were most hated by Benazir Bhutto were now the 'front benchers' in PPP's government.
He regretted that entire country was in the flames of terrorism while Karachi was bleeding due to incapability of the rulers while the priorities of the government were to terminate the party membership. "Those who accepted former dictator Pervez Musharraf in uniform by subverting the Constitution, are now unfortunately front-benchers", he deplored.
To a question, the former foreign minister welcomed the resumption of Pak-India dialogue saying that Indian foreign secretary by acknowledging that the deadlock in the dialogue was a mistake on the Indian part, has actually recognised his stance. Responding to another query, Qureshi said that the entire world knows that Pakistan's nuclear assets were in safe hands and their security was up to the international standards but raising doubts again and again in foreign media was a tough test for Pakistan.