Zardari ‘foresees’ Imran not completing term

Ag agencies

BADIN/ISLAMABAD: The former president of Pakistan and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari ‘predicted’ that Prime Minister Imran Khan would not be able to stay in the power for five years.

Addressing a gathering in Badin on Thursday, he said the prime minister is not from the general public and will not return to them. “Now that you are a selected prime minister, learn something,” he said. Zardari said PM Khan had waged a battle against him due to the 18th Amendment, calling it a conspiracy against the public. “Don’t push us too much against the wall that the masses get out of control,” he warned. He said no one accepted Imran Khan’s election and he will not be able to complete his tenure, adding that his party will ‘take care of them’.

Earlier, speaking in the National Assembly, the PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari dared Prime Minister Imran Khan to come to Parliament and face them rather than confining himself to issuing messages on Twitter. Bilawal asked as to why PM Khan was afraid of facing the Parliament. “The prime minister expresses his views on Twitter with regard to the ECL and proceedings in the National Assembly but it would have been better had he given a statement on the floor of the House,” he said. “Had the prime minister spoken on the floor of the House, I could have responded to him face to face,” he added. Bilawal said the Supreme Court had issued a written verdict with directions for removal of his name and that of Murad Ali Shah from the ECL and also called a member of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) directing him to expunge his name from the JIT report.

Bilawal said doing away with decisions, taken by Parliament by two-thirds majority, with a stroke of pen by a couple of unelected persons is not acceptable. “It can’t happen in democracy that a couple of unelected people do away with the decisions of the Parliament taken by two-thirds majority with a stroke of pen,” he said while referring to the Supreme Court judgment on the 18th Amendment. Bilawal said it would be a very serious matter if the world class health institutions like the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) are taken away from the Sindh province. “It will be very difficult for me to convince my people in Sindh if the NICVD is taken away,” he said, adding the move would be considered an attack on the 18th Amendment. He pointed out that the Sindh government created an institution like the NICVD and allocated Rs14 billion for free treatment of patients. “If this decision is taken then they should guarantee that Rs14 billion will be released so the free treatment can continue in the hospital,” he said. He said the opposition, during a recent meeting, has maintained that there would be no compromise on the economic, humanitarian and democratic rights which is also in interest of the country. “Neither will we compromise on our economic and provincial rights, nor can anybody snatch the same from us,” he said.

The PPP Parliamentarians senior leader Syed Khursheed Shah also came down hard on the prime minister saying he wanted to run the House proceedings through Twitter. “This is also contempt of Parliament and chair of the Speaker that the Leader of the House does not come to the House,” he said. Khursheed said Imran Khan used to call Parliament a fake and is still giving it no importance. “He may also be considering the present Parliament a fake which proves our fears that there are 60 to 70 punctures here,” he continued. Khursheed Shah alleged that there is also contradiction in the words and deeds of the prime minister. “One should not trust a person who has contradictions in his words and deeds,“ he added. He recalled that prior to assuming power Imran Khan had announced that he would prefer to commit suicide instead of seeking foreign loans. “But now the people are forced to commit suicide because of the loans for which the government is moving around the world while carrying the begging bowl,” he said. He said the treasury benches should bring the Leader of the House to the Parliament. “He is enjoying his office but not ready to turn up in the House,” Khursheed said.

The Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad maintained that neither they had been imposed by anyone nor had they landed in Parliament on the launching pad. He said nobody was above accountability and everyone, including the prime minister, would have to face accountability. “Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif too will have to face accountability,” he said while referring to the model of accountability introduced by the fourth caliph of Islam Hazrat Umar (RA). He also advised the opposition parliamentarians against belittling any leader and assured the House that the prime minister would definitely come to the House.

Taking exception to the views of the PPP leaders, the Minister for Communication Murad Saeed said they had accepted the Supreme Court decision on the removal of the PPP leaders’ names from the ECL but the verdict on the hospitals is not acceptable to them. He said it would have been better for the country and democracy had the opposition parties united for addressing the problems of the masses. Criticising the performance of previous governments, he said the incumbent government is formulating policies to steer the country out of economic crisis. “Where were the record foreign loans taken during the last 10 years spent?” he asked.