Power being transferred to unelected elements, says Zardari

 ZAB’s 37th death anniversary

Says authority comes through ballot, not bullet; public holiday in Sindh today

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Zardari on Sunday said power is being transferred to unelected elements instead of the masses. He said authority does not come through the bullet but through the ballot. 

“In these troubled times when the locus of power is shifting away from people towards unelected elements, the example of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is even more relevant than before,” Zardari said in a message on the eve of the 37th martyrdom anniversary of the party’s founding chairman on Monday. 

He said ZAB told the people that they alone were the fount of all political powers and it was this realisation that had not permitted dictatorship to take root in the country. 

“On the eve of the 37th martyrdom anniversary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, I ask the democracy-loving people to rededicate themselves to the ideal that all powers must flow from the ballot box and not from the bullet. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto awakened people and gave them the hope of strength. No one can rob him of his great achievements. Indeed ZAB stands as a beacon of light, hope and inspiration for people,” Zardari said. 

He said Bhutto gave the nation the gifts of a unanimous democratic Constitution and a strengthened national defence. “On this day, we pay homage to all those who laid down their lives and endured exile, torture and imprisonment for the cause of democracy,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Sindh government announced a public holiday today (April 4). According to a notification, all Sindh government offices, semi-government and autonomous bodies, corporations and local councils under the administrative control of the Sindh government will remain closed on the ZAB martyrdom anniversary.

Quran Khwani and Dua will be offered at all divisional, district and Tehsil offices of the party. The PPP will hold a public rally in Garhi Khuda Bukhsh. Sindh Food Minister Nasir Hussain said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will attend the anniversary of his grandfather.

To a question, he said foolproof security arrangements had been made to observe the anniversary in a befitting manner. The PPP social media has also announced a video-making competition to commemorate the anniversary.