LAHORE - While giving assurance that Election Commission of Pakistan would have complete autonomy to conduct the upcoming elections, President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday urged the party office bearers to step up efforts for reaching out to the people in their respective areas and mobilise the workers for the electioneering.
“The PPP would kick start its election campaign by holding an election rally at Mandi Bahauddin, and I would address that public meeting”, he told party office-bearers from Punjab who called on him at the Governor’s House.
The delegation included among others Punjab Opposition leader Raja Riaz, North Punjab President Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, General Secretary Haji Azizur Rehman Chan, and MPAs, Zulfikar Gondal, Shaukat Basra, Ashraf Sohna and Amer Dogar.
President Zardari was confident that next Punjab Chief Minister would be a jiyala and that PPP and its allies would form the next governments at the Centre as well as in Punjab.
He said he would constitute a Parliamentary board in due course of time to distribute party tickets for the next elections.  
The President said that the party will not issue tickets to the Parliamentarians who have shown poor performance.
He expressed his confidence that the PPP will win the coming elections despite challenges it was facing on various fronts.
Zardari said that the Opposition parties will be left with no excuse to reject the election results as the coming polls would be conducted in a transparent manner.
“The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will have complete autonomy and authority during the period and the government will comply with the demands of the ECP”, he assured, adding, that the next elections will be held on time after the government completes its tenure.
“Those who had been planning to send the government packing for quite some time, are now hiding themselves from people”, he observed.  
He said government would soon announce a relief package for the flood affected areas of South Punjab.
On energy crisis, Zardari told party men that he would personally supervise the efforts being made by the government to overcome it. He also reportedly assured them that the province of Southern Punjab would be created before the general elections.
Matters pertaining to reorganisation of the party, preparations for the upcoming general elections and development issues in their respective areas were also came under discussion during the meeting.
The office-bearers expressed full confidence in the leadership of the party and the government and appreciated the steps being taken for the welfare and uplift of the common people in the country.
Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari and Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Friday discussed country’s overall political situation as well as matters pertaining to the PPP and PML-Q alliance.
In their meeting held here at the Governor’s House, the President said that in accordance with the vision of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, the politics of reconciliation was being pursued to strengthen democratic system in the country. 
The PPP and its allied parties in the government were playing their active role for the well-being and prosperity of the people, he added.
Both the leaders also discussed the matters pertaining to coalition of the two parties and the next general elections.
On this occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, said that both the parties would also form an alliance for the general elections.