Nawaz quit due to fear of ouster: Zardari

PESHAWAR: Terming deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif ‘incompetent’ to handle the state affairs and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan an ‘innocent cricketer’, former president Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday urged the nation to beware of both these leaders and save the future generations from them.

“Nawaz Sharif has made enough money. Now he should sit in peace and enjoy what he has earned. He should stop crying over his disqualification,” Zardari remarked while addressing a party gathering at the residence of former federal minister Arbab Alamgir Khan in Peshawar.

Zardari ridiculed the former prime minister for complaining against his disqualification, saying if he was not aware of his mistake then why he quit the government. “Mian Sahib! You were scared of those who you knew would expel you. It was due to their fear that you quit the government,” he remarked.

He said the former prime minister has earned a lot of money and now he should go somewhere in Europe and enjoy life. “If he wants to go to jail, it would not give him any benefit,” he added.

Turning to Imran Khan, he said: “Khan Sahib is an innocent cricketer who wants to see himself on the television screen all the time. Unable to control dengue, how could he change a province or the country.”

The well-attended gathering was also addressed by Arbab Alamgir Khan, his wife Asma Alamgir, former National Assembly Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi and others.

Criticising Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan, Zardari said that both Mian Sahib and Khan Sahib had made the people suffer at the federal and provincial levels. He said that the PML-N and PTI’s term in office at the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa level were the worst. “The nation should learn from the mistakes that Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan have committed during the last more than four years,” he stressed.

He also came down hard on Imran Khan for his total failure to deliver in the province. He said the PTI rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the worst example of governance.

He said the PTI government had been unable to do anything for the well-being of the people of the province.

Zardari urged the party workers to work hard for the success of party candidate Asad Gulzar contesting the by-election for NA-4 Peshawar where the PPP was up against both the federal and provincial governments.

Enumerating the PPP government’s achievements, he recalled that his party had provided employment to the people whenever it came into power but the incumbent government snatched jobs from the poor.

He said they knew the previous elections had been rigged but the PPP accepted the results as it didn’t want to derail the democratic process.“We didn’t want to create any hurdle for the rulers so as not to give them an excuse for their failure to deliver,” he maintained.

The PPP president supported the merger of tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at the earliest. He recalled that the PPP government had done legislation for Fata and introduced reforms.

“We appointed a tribesman as governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa so that he could better resolve the problems of his fellow tribal people. But now the rulers are reluctant to accept the demands of the tribal people,” he said.Earlier, emotionally-charged PPP workers accorded a standing ovation to Zardari while welcoming him on his arrival at the venue.