Ban no party, just take out rotten eggs: Zardari

KARACHI: Former president and Co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party Asif Ali Zardari said on Thursday that no political party should be restricted, adding that rotten eggs should be taken out of the parties instead of democracy. He advised the government to make efforts to convene a summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) on the sensitive situation in Yemen.
“Some three million Pakistanis are working in Yemen, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other countries of the region, so we cannot remain aloof to the affairs of the region and we have to get involved in them,” said the former president, addressing a press conference at Bilawal House.
Zardari was flanked in the press conference by his daughter Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, PPP leader Sherry Rehman, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, and former federal minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar.
Zardari recalled that the late Benazir Bhutto, being the prime minister of the country, had made arrangements for convening the OIC summit in Pakistan but her government had been dismissed before the summit. Later, the OIC summit was held at the Convention Centre in Islamabad whose proceedings had been chaired by then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. “At present, the situation is very critical, so the government should convene an OIC summit,” said Zardari.
The former president that an in-camera session of all parties’ conference should be convened where the government should give due briefing regarding its proposed policy on Middle Eastern situation.
Zardari said that he was still duly abiding by the oath he had taken at the time of assuming office of president of the country, under which he was not supposed to reveal secrets of sensitive nature so the present government could entrust and share with him confidential matters regarding the present situation.
He said he had been witness to many critical regional and international affairs including those concerning Afghanistan and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He said that being an opposition leader he would play his due role in the present situation to whatever extent it was possible.
He said the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the PPP in its latest meeting had decided that delegations of the party would be dispatched to Middle Eastern countries for seeking resolution of the present situation.
He said the PPP had serious concerns about situation as the party had always promoted the policy for resolving issues of the region through friendship and dialogue. He said the present situation demanded that cordial relations should be promoted for tackling present stormy situation so that discord existing among Muslim countries could be continently overcome.
Zardari said that when he was in power he advocated the same policy of dialogue and mediation in the United Nations and under the same spirit Pakistan at that time abstained in the world body from voting on the Syrian crisis.
He said institutions of countries and international boundaries were meant for human beings but in case there had been threat to existence of humanity, humans had been suffering from hunger and similar such pressing issues, then these institutions would be of no use.
About PPP Chairman Bilawal Buhtto Zardari who has been out of the country since last year, the former president said that he had been engaged in training and upbringing of Bilawal as after gaining maturity in political thinking, he would be brought back to political arena.
Zardari welcomed the signing of accord between ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for constitution of a judicial commission for investigating allegations of rigging in 2013 general elections, saying both the political parties deserved greetings for this development. He said he had always advocated the policy of dialogue in all circumstances for resolving political issues as in a democratic dispensation, the only way for seeking resolution of problems is holding the dialogue.
He didn’t rule out the option that the PPP would hold dialogue with PTI saying that there was no such affair on which dialogue could not be held while recalling the statement of PTI Chairman Imran Khan that he had returned to parliament on the call of Zardari.
To a question that PTI leader had been insisting that 2015 would be the year of general elections, he said the PPP wished that present government complete its tenure as it would provide strength to democracy in the future.
He said the PPP wished that Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should be made an autonomous and independent institution as any case could not be lodged against a sessions judge performing electoral duties while being involved in misconduct. “In case we have evidences of rigging in elections, we could easily lodge an FIR and move the court against any personnel of Election Commission involved in the issue,” said the former president.
He said the electoral reforms were an ongoing process, which should continue. He said in the past the historians used to state that former president of the USA George W Bush had lost his first presidential election.
He said the CEC meeting of the PPP had demanded that present government should actively pursue the presidential reference pending before Supreme Court regarding the trial and death sentence awarded to founder of PPP and former PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as for such a matter, letters would be sent by PPP to the incumbent president and PM.
He said the PPP did not seek revenge from any one but had been demanding that apology should be sought for the gross injustices meted out to the PPP and Shaheed Bhutto. To a question as to why the PPP had still desire to strike an alliance with Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) despite arrest of criminal elements belonging to MQM, the former president said that those wielding political thinking were not involved in criminal activities but it was a fact that rotten eggs had been present in MQM and other political parties. He said the reform process should be started in all political parties for purging these rotten eggs.
He said the banning any political party or disbanding the democratic dispensation altogether would not be any solution but instead political parties be cleansed of these rotten eggs. He conceded that rotten eggs are present in the PPP since the time of late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
He said that being a politician, he had been promoting the policy of friendship and reconciliation owing to which his party had been once again able to get elected its proposed candidates as chairman and vice-chairman of Senate. He said the PPP had always believed in power of unity.
To a question whether the establishment’s interference into present dispensation had increased or not, he said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif used to take along with him the military leadership on important matters, which was a wise policy to adopt.
To a question what steps he had proposed for ending corruption in PPP’s Sindh government, he said that land record of the province had been computerised for which Google mapping had been used and a separate department would be established for the purpose of establishing an online land bank. He said the latest technology had been introduced in Sindh Bank under Sindh government of PPP while modern technology was also being introduced for detecting ghost employees in government offices including those in teaching service in the province.
Zardari complained that Sindh province had been subjected to worst of power load shedding while the present government could exploit the abundantly available natural resources of wind, coal, and gas in province for electricity production.
He said the Council of Common Interests was the valid forum for seeking resolution of issues of provinces as on this platform Sindh had agitated for the due interests denied to the province while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had adopted the same mode of agitation. Zardari said that still vote bank of the PPP was intact in the country.