Face conspiracies, Zardari advises Nawaz

SANGHAR: Former president and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday advised Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to step down and face conspiracies and cases like a lion, as his party enjoyed electoral majority. “The rulers have a problem with the JIT. But if you have an issue, then you may have the prime minister changed and bring in a new one, as the PML-N enjoys electoral majority,” he said while addressing a public gathering in Khipro here.

“You (PM) can then continue to face cases. Why should there be any issue? But if you don’t want to face cases nor intend to leave the government, then why do you want to continue with politics at all? You should not have chosen politics at all and that too with elections manipulated by the returning officers (ROs) and not through populist vote. I ask Mian Sahib to act like a lion, as he has chosen lion as the symbol to represent himself,” he said.

“Jail and derailment happen to monarchs and governments. You should bear the pressure even if a conspiracy is being hatched against you. We only pray the present assembly completes its five years the way we were able to complete our term.”

Zardari said the reins of the country were in the hands of fools. He said the world was moving forward while the rulers in Pakistan were going backwards.  He said the rulers were better at selling steel than running the country. The former president said instead of realising the worth of the PPP, Nawaz Sharif had backstabbed it. He said the current rulers were not at all concerned with the masses but with themselves.

He slammed the PTI Chairman Imran Khan indirectly, saying there was a huge difference between playing cricket and running a country. Zardari also criticised Musharraf and said whenever there was a talk of jail, the ex-army chief would feign illness. “He calls himself a commando but we are braver than him. His pictures come off really well in Dubai but he calls himself a sick man,” said Zardari.

He said everyday NAB officials harass the PPP representatives but he would not stop his mission to build Pakistan.

Zardari said the PPP wants the assemblies to complete their tenure and asked the government to appoint a new prime minister if the case goes against Nawaz Sharif. “We will see how the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) about the Panama Papers case plays out,” he said. “The prime minister is finding it hard to face a single case against his family and yet he does not want to vacate his position.”

He said CPEC was beneficial for China and added as an afterthought that it was also beneficial for Pakistan. Zardari said he realized that there was a great conspiracy against Pakistan after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. “I realized the danger the country was facing after my wife’s assassination. Hence I raised the slogan of ‘Pakistan Khapay’,” he said.

Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah said the prime minister needs to inform the people and the country who were conspiring against Pakistan. “Nawaz Sharif must tell the people. If he does not, he will become a criminal in the eyes of the country,” said Khursheed Shah.

He said that the prime minister’s statements were weakening democracy and Pakistan. He urged Nawaz to tell the nation about the conspiracy and assured that the other political parties will stand up in support of democracy.