Godfather sending reconciliation messages from London: Zardari

LAHORE: Former president Asif Ali Zardari on Friday described PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif as godfather and demanded immediate arrest of the members of the Sharif family, saying there were serious corruption charges against them. “The godfather [Nawaz] sends us secret messages for reconciliation from London, but we have rejected them,” he said in a statement.

Zardari said when it came to the PPP leaders, they would first be arrested, put behind bars and then cases  would be dug up against them. Referring to the instance of Nawaz’s son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar — who was freed after a day of being arrested, he said one could be bailed out in a day, if he was a member of the Sharif family. “But our people get bail after a year and a half – what sort of accountability is this?” he added.

The PPP co-chairperson said they would not accept any [judicial] proceedings until they were held in a manner similar to the previous ones [like those experienced by the PPP leaders].

On the other hand, the PPP decided to participate in the general elections once again with the slogan of 'Roti, Kapra aur Makan' and to make Pakistan a welfare state under the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The party’s manifesto committee, which met with Zardari in the chair at Bilawal House, decided to keep education, health and law and order, and generating maximum job opportunities for the unemployed as a priority.

Speaking on the occasion, Zardari said the anti-democratic forces initiated references against Benazir for providing jobs to the Pakistani youth. “So whenever PPP comes into power, it creates employment opportunities.” He said the PPP wanted to make Pakistan a welfare state according to the vision of Benazir – a state where rule of law is supreme and people have equal opportunities to prosper.

In another development, Nadeem Chan – PPP Central Punjab general secretary – tendered his resignation. However, the party chairman, Bilawal Bhutto, hasn’t accepted it as yet.  The move came after his brother Waseem Chan left the party and joined PTI.

PPP information secretary Chaudhry Manzoor, confirming the resignation said Chan had made the decision on moral grounds. He claimed that Chan would not leave the party. It is important to note that two uncles of Chan – former federal minister Nazar Gondal and former lawmaker Zulfiqar Gondal – have already joined PTI.