Nawaz will have to resign before Senate polls: Zardari

Says lion is paper made and bat is local made

BADIN: Pakistan People's Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari said on Wednesday even the judges had said that Mian Sahib (PM Nawaz Sharif) you would have to leave now, adding that the prime minister was waiting for the Senate elections in March but the PPP would win the Senate seats like in the past.

Asif Ali Zardari was expressing these views while addressing a gathering in Badin on Wednesday. "He (Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif) has to leave, whether he leaves after two months or three," he added. Zardari said he will not allow Nawaz Sharif to win majority in the Senate. "You have to resign before the Senate elections," he stressed.  While referring to the party symbols of the PML-N and PTI, Zardari said that the lion is paper made and the bat is also Desi (locally made), saying that he knows well what the people want.

Zardari said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif must resign before the formation of the Joint Investigation Team, which has been tasked to implement the apex court's verdict in the Panama Papers case. He asked the prime minister to step down, reminding him that the Supreme Court judges had also asked him to vacate office.

The former president hit out at the prime minister, saying that Nawaz Sharif does not understand the notion why the China Pakistan Economic Corridor was introduced. He said the project was for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan to address the insecurities experienced by the people. He claimed that Nawaz Sharif does not understand the rural economy while 70pc of Pakistan was based on it. All he cares about is his relatives, the PPP co-chairman added. "Nawaz Sharif wants us not to make our own electricity." Zardari said he received love wherever he went in Pakistan, saying that people are deprived of basic facilities like food, clothes and accommodation. He said that he had received a warm welcome in KP and Punjab and hoped the PPP will form the next government in Punjab, including Centre.

The heartbroken people in Balochistan are calling me and I will soon visit Balochistan as only the PPP is the sign of Federation, he said. While referring to the land, he pointed to the residents of Badin that this land belonged to them. He said he asked Sindh Chief Minister to distribute land amongst the local inhabitants. "We will double the amount of Benazir Card and make water reach land," he promised.  Zardari was on a one-day visit to Badin and addressed the rally on the invitation of senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader and former president of Sindh chapter Ismail Rahu, who tendered his resignation as member of the Sindh Assembly citing personal reasons on Tuesday.