Lahore: Former Pakistan Foreign Minister
Shah Mahmood Qureshi's chances of returning to the PPP-led
government appears to have faded following party chief and
President Asif Ali Zardari's remarks that some "rotten eggs"
wanted to assume the position of the Bhutto family.
"Those who quit the party and then return don't
command respect. Nobody can become Bhutto. Some rotten eggs
want to become Bhutto but they won't," Zardari said in a
telephonic address to PPP legislators who had gathered at the
Governor's House in Lahore late last night.
Zardari, who became head of the PPP after his wife,
former premier Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in 2007, did
not hide his anger at leaders like Qureshi who had become
estranged with the party.
Without naming Qureshi, Zardari said: "Benazir Bhutto
used to pardon those saying goodbye to the party. But such
people should remember that they do not get respect after
returning to the party fold."
Qureshi had refused to join the cabinet during a
recent reshuffle after he learnt the PPP's top leadership had
decided not to reallocate the foreign affairs portfolio to
him.
He also criticised the government's handling of the
case of CIA contractor Raymond Davis, who was arrested in
January after he gunned down two Pakistani men in Lahore.
The former Foreign Minister said repeatedly that he
did not compromise on his stance that Davis did not have
blanket diplomatic immunity.
He also blamed the US for depriving him of the foreign
ministry for his stand on Davis, who was pardoned and freed by
a court yesterday under a "blood money" deal.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, March 17, 2011, 23:09