PPP never indulged in corruption: Zardari

ISLAMABAD: PPP Co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari said Pakistan People's Party (PPP) never indulged in corrupt practices and his party's government never held any political prisoners. 

He said his fight with the ousted prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was yet to begin.  The former president said he had saved the government of Nawaz Sharif in the past. “But what  have they done to their friends?” To a question about ‘Minus Nawaz family and minus Zardari family’, he said there was no minus in parliament. 

“I saved the PML-N government in the interest of democracy and parliament. We have to initiate a dialogue to keep the parliament supreme.” The political parties will have to strengthen parliament for which he will always prefer dialogue, he said while addressing a press conference at the Zardari House here on Tuesday.

Zardari pushed the issue of articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution to the next parliament, saying  it will be the mandate of the next assembly to decide it. “This assembly has no mandate to do it,” he said categorically. “The Chief Justice of Pakistan will not allow the imposition of emergency,” he said.  

He said it was not his policy to engage in fight with courts. “I don’t fight with courts, it is against my grain. I run along them until they collapse.” Praising  Benazir Bhutto for strengthening the institutions, he said Ms Bhutto did not call any GT Road march when she was ousted in the '90s. 

Zardari said all cases made against him were politically motivated. Recalling the horrors of his time spent behind the bars, Zardari said he was tortured and even his tongue was slit. He maintained that all the cases against him in the NAB were of political nature.  Asked if he will take all those who framed the cases against him to the court of law, he said the PPP never indulged in taking revenge. 

“I was trapped in a false case and arrested. I was transferred from Lahore to Karachi and then to Landhi Jail which is a long story. There were 14 cases against me. But I was exonerated in 12 of them which were instituted  during the tenure of former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan. I contested each of them. I thank God that I was cleared from the accusations,” said Zardari. He said a case of narcotics and BMW was also filed against him and he spent more time in prison than the maximum sentence he would have served even if he was found guilty.

The former president said he had won all the cases but ‘they dragged them for long durations … because they feared not doing so would cost them their jobs.” He said the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) was used  to keep him behind the bars. He said Mir Murtaza Bhutto was martyred in order to bring Benazir's government down and i was also booked in that case. “Benazir Bhutto used to say they kill Bhuttos to get Bhutto,” he said.  Imran Khan would have known better if he had spent time in prison,” former president noted.

Defending the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), Zardari said electoral reforms had been carried out under the agreement which also paved way for the return of Nawaz Sharif.  He said when Benazir Bhutto was negotiating the terms of NRO, she also negotiated Nawaz's return.

Zardari said he always kept in mind the bigger picture throughout his political career. "I could have formed my government in the Punjab after 2008, but I let Sharifs' form theirs, however, without Sharifs' on my side I couldn't have ousted Musharraf," he said.

“In a country where even a clerk does not surrender his powers, I being the president returned all the powers to the Parliament. I did not keep any powers with me due to which no allegation was made against me during my five years spent at the presidency,” he said. "Engaging in power games only results in imprisonment and death sentences," Zardari claimed.

He said even today a former prime minister belonging to the PPP was facing 21 references and Nawaz Sharif is saying on oath that he has not instituted any of those.   “Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf is appearing in 10 references against him despite those being trumped up,” he said.

To a question about the new constitutional package, Zardari said the PPP had restored the 1973 Constitution   in its original form and also gave a constitutional reform package, but the PML-N government did not follow it in the last four years and ran the country like Mughal dynasty. “The Mogul emperor did not like coming to Parliament in the last four years,” he said in a covert reference to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

To yet another question about the next election, Zardari said everyone has a right to contest elections. “We will also contest, PML will also contest and so will  Imran Khan, but in my view there will be more independent candidates this time, ” he added.