ISLAMABAD: Former President and Co-Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari on Friday urged all political parties to sit together and decide the date for the upcoming general elections in the country.
Speaking on program, Zardari said that the general elections should be held simultaneously across the country, as the federal government and the Supreme Court are in virtual deadlock over the conduct of elections. Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“The problem is not that we are afraid of elections,” he said, adding that his party did not object to elections but to its “timing”. The PPP leader said that in the past his party had joined the National Assembly with only 14 seats.
Emphasizing the need for dialogue between all political forces, the former president said that when we talk to our allies, our words carry weight. Referring to alleged favoritism by the judiciary and the establishment for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, Zardari said: “There is a difference of domicile between Imran Khan and me.”
The PPP leader criticized Khan and said that political activists protest but do not take up arms. He claimed that Khan was not a popular leader, saying that he paid the people.
In response to a question about former Chief of Army Staff General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, the PPP leader revealed that he and PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had told Bajwa not to ask for Khan’s resignation.
He maintained that he decided to topple the PTI-led government because the ousted prime minister planned to stay in power until 2035 by “picking an army chief of his choice”.
Zardari revealed that he inferred from Bajwa’s body language and conversation with Hamid Mir that he might impose martial law. The former president said he told Bajwa to take over, warning him that it was easy to mount a lion but difficult to dismount, and the general backed down.
Earlier, according to the online news agency, Asif Zardari said that Allah is the super king and no one can be neglected. This was his answer to a journalist’s. The journalist said that you said Faiz Hameed has been sidelined.
