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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Reconciliation ends, will teach lesson: Zardari

By our correspondents
December 28, 2016

Claims PML-N had not won the elections but PPP handed over power to Nawaz in good faith; Mughal emperors have spoiled democracy; says he and Bilawal will contest NA polls; Bilawal announces visit to each corner of the country as part of anti-govt movement

GARHI KHUDA BAKHSH: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday said the politics of reconciliation has ended and now they will teach a lesson to the incumbent government.

He finally made his promised ‘big announcement’, revealing that he and his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will take part in election to sit in the incumbent parliament.“I will take part in election from my sister Faryal Talpur’s (Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho) constituency NA-213 whereas Bilawal Bhutto will contest from Ayaz Soomro’s constituency NA-204 (Larkana),” he revealed just four days after his arrival in Pakistan from Dubai, ending his 18-month self-imposed exile.

Asif Ali Zardari, accompanied by Bilawal Bhutto, addressed a gathering of rally participants in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in connection with the ninth death anniversary of former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto.

During his address, Zardari said the PPP would not spare the ‘monarchy’ in the country. He claimed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s party had not won the elections while the PPP had handed over the power in good faith. He refused to accept the notion that the Sharif brothers and the PML-N had a stronghold in the Punjab.

“We will not spare the Mughal emperors. We had handed over this politics to you as trust but deplorably you did not fulfill the promises… Mian Brothers are not politically strong, Nawaz Sharif is unable to handle the government,” Zardari said.

“This war is not for the seat but for the sake of Pakistan and the Constitution,” Zardari said in his brief speech.“Mister Prime Minister is more interested in tweeting to Indian PM Modi and exchanging gifts with him,” Zardari said, adding that the PM has ruined the economy of Pakistan.

The former president hit out at the premier. "Mian [Nawaz Sharif] Sahab we gave you this democracy as a sacred trust. We made every decision with your input. We made decisions in parliament through consensus. It is a pity that you seem to have forgotten all your promises today," he said. Zardari said that the leaders of PPP rendered sacrifices to save Pakistan and that the political party did not fear trials in courts. "The premier does not know that sacrifices are needed to be rendered for the sake of homeland while not even his pet has ever gotten injured," Zardari claimed.

The co-chairman of PPP also touched upon the Kashmir dispute by rhetorically asking what the vicitimised locals of the occupied valley would go through every time Nawaz Sharif meets Narendra Modi, the Indian premier and his counterpart.

Zardari accused the prime minister of changing the Constitution. He demanded that the Supreme Court decision on PanamaLeaks be brought to the floor of parliament and vetted by all political parties.

He criticised the trade pacts and understandings signed with different countries, specifically the gas deal with Qatar. He said that the deal with Qatar for the import of gas was expensive and not suitable for Pakistan.

Zardari said that he would deal with the government after getting elected to parliament. Earlier in his speech, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari warned the government of the party's preparations for a long march. Principally, we have decided that we have to start preparing for a long march, Bilawal announced. "I will begin making visits around the country to get my four demands met." However, he said the party was yet to debate the matter in its Central Executive Committee meeting.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Shaheed Benazir Bhutto living in hearts could not be forgotten. On social media, he tweeted that heaven lies under the feet of mother and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto you cannot be forgotten, you live in hearts of people from all over the world. He tweeted that the whole nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Kashmir in their struggle.

Responding to wishes of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday thanked Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and the people of Kashmir and reminded them that Pakistan and the entire nation stands firmly by the Kashmir cause.

The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, had remembered the slain Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Benazir Bhutto on the behalf of Kashmir and wished her son to carry her mission forward. The PPP leader had earlier threatened the government that the party would launch a long march on Dec 27 if the government failed to meet the PPP's four demands.

The party's four demands include passage of the draft Panama bill, immediate appointment of a permanent foreign minister, reconstitution of the parliamentary committee on national security and implementation of the resolution on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor passed by a multi-party conference.

Thousands of PPP workers and supporters in caravans reached Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, Naudero, and Larkana from different parts of the country to pay their tributes to their slain leader. Security in and around the stage, the mausoleum and near the main parking area in Naudero was beefed up with special commandos and police officials deployed along the roads and main entrance points. --Agencies

  Imtiaz Hussain adds: Calling Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif scandal-tainted, Pakistan People’s Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari announced to visit each corner of the country as part of his party’s planned anti-government movement. "I asked the government to accept our four demands, but it turned deaf ears to the demands,” said Bilawal, adding it’s now time to begin the ‘political long-march’. He claimed he could not stay silent in the face of anti-people moves taken by the ruling government. “You want to buy all state entities through your friends and I should keep mum…that won’t happen at all.”

He claimed that PM Sharif was mired in various scandals including ‘Sasti Roti, Yellow Cab, Danish Schools, Asghar Khan case, LNG scandal, Nandipur, Hudaibiya Mill, Model Town massacre and Motorway scandal. Bilawal said Benazir could get only five years of power during her 45 years of struggle. He warned the PM of strong opposition protest if Panama Papers bill failed to sail through the National Assembly.

Bilawal questioned why the Asghar Khan case couldn’t be settled as yet. He also raised questions over the incomplete trial of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s murderers. He said that the history of the our judiciary was dark. He termed ZA Bhutto's hanging was a judicial murder and when his assassinated mother knocked the doors of the judiciary for justice, the judiciary did not provide her justice. Earlier, he began his speech underlining sacrifices of his slain mother and grandfather who founded the Pakistan People’s Party.

Meanwhile, Asif Ali Zardari criticised the role of a former chief justice of Pakistan as biased against the PPP. He said that they had not talked against the army because the army was sacrificing lives in defending Pakistan. However, they had been talking against the dictators.