PPP victory certain under level playing field: Zardari

LAHORE: The head of PPP-P, Asif Ali Zardari, on Monday said people had always voted for PPP whenever they had been given freedom to express their opinion on ballot.

Addressing a gathering of party leaders at Bilawal House where the scion of noted Lalika family of Mandi Bahauddin Fakhar Umer Lalika, who is also a candidate from NA-86, formally announced his decision to join the PPP after quitting PTI.

Fakhar is the son of the former IJI MNA of 1988 who defeated Nazar Muhammad Gondal after a tough contest from old Gujrat (now part of Mandi Bahauddin). The Gondals are now siding with the PTI whereas the Lalika group is now in the PTI folds. Fakhar, after retiring as an educationist, joined the PTI but quit last month over differences with the local leadership.

Speaking on the occasion, Zardari said the decisions taken by nations and history were never wrong, adding that the history had declared Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Shaheed as the national heroes for their remarkable bravery, courage and determination. He said the PPP would contest the polls on its ballot strength and every stamp on the symbol of arrow would mark the victory of Bilawal. Fakhar said the PPP had a history of sacrifices and was the only party whose leadership had sacrificed their lives for the people.

Moreover, two more former PTI members from Faisalabad – Faisal Gondal and Nasir Tarar – also announced to join the PPP on Monday. For NA-86, Fakhar is going to be the PPP candidate, whereas Faisal Gondal will contest from PP-67 and Nasir Tarar will contest from PP-68 on PPP tickets – the two provincial seats falling under the National Assembly constituency.

Former MPA Amir Fida Paracha, Chaudhry Manzur and others were also present on the occasion. On the other hand, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will announce the party manifesto for the 2018 general elections on June 28.

Since 1970, this would be the 10th manifesto of PPP and the first by Bilawal. The first PPP manifesto was announced by party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and slain party Chairperson Benazir Bhutto presented the manifesto six times.

Bilawal will present the manifesto at Islamabad Press Club. Meanwhile, the PPP is yet to issue the list of its candidates and the reports related to issuance of names party candidates in media are not true, said Qamar Zaman Kaira, the head of PPP’s Central Punjab chapter. Kaira in a statement said the party had so far issued no list and requested media to avoid speculations over the matter.

Zardari is currently on a visit to Lahore and the final list of candidates is likely to come to surface in a day or two.