Senate election on time: Zardari

NAWABSHAH: Former president and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari has said it would be foolish not to maintain friendly ties with the US. He said Mian Saheb's 'B' team, which is running the country, has no experienced diplomatic team which could have forged friendly relationship with the US.

Talking to the media at the Zardari House, the ex president said he forsees holding of Senate election on time, but is not in favour of early elections. The government, he said, may not continue due to its severe negligence in managing the affairs of the country.

He said the PML-N would be in opposition after the general election. He said during the previous general election, obstacles were erected against the PPP in three provinces, while in Sindh the PPP won on its own. He said this time the PPP would sweep the election throughout Pakistan and form a majority government. He denied his involvement in Balochistan's political crisis. He said there is no provision of a technocrat government in the constitution. He questioned the governance in the country where the institutions have been weakened and only the personal business of the government leaders are flourishing. Expressing his views on the Kasur incident, he said the Punjab government has failed to provide protection to the common man. He said the influential culprits should be arrested and given exemplary punishment.

Zardari said Punjab chief minister's visit to the bereaved family to offer condolence in the darkness of night is evident of the prevailing insecurity in the province. Zardari also announced a Rs. 300 million-package for the provision of clean drinking water for the people of Nawabshah along with replacement of old water pipe lines. He said the Sindh government would provide funds for improvement of the drainage system. President Nawabshah Press Club Muhammad Aslam Munir, Vice President Farooq Vayani, General Secretary Rizwan Thebo, Joint Secretary Abdul Khalique Mali, senior journalistsRashid Zia Qureshi, Arshad Shaikh, Habibur Rehman, Muhammad Anwar Shaikh, Naik Muhammad Malik and others were present on the occasion.Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah demanded from Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Law Minister Rana Sanaullah to resign following the Kasur tragedy. The opposition leader said it is not the first incident of this type in Kasur which manifests their lack of interest in governance. “If the criminals are not arrested, it will be a major failure of the Punjab government,” he said.Khursheed also condemned the firing on the protesters in Kasur in which two people were killed, saying the Punjab government repeated the episode of Model Town in Kasur and it appeared that the Punjab government did not learn from the mistakes of the past. “The government's job is not to fire at the people but to provide them with protection,” he said. To a question regarding the recent tirade of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif against the judiciary, the leader of the opposition said it shows Nawaz Sharif wants to destroy the credibility of the institutions. He said the motive behind Nawaz Sharif's offensive against the institutions was to put them on the defensive. This will bring havoc to the country “if Nawaz keeps harping on this tune, he said.