Monitoring Desk
Breaking his silence, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Friday that he was ready to hold talks with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif on a host of issues, including early general elections in the country.
“I am not afraid of early elections and am ready to talk to Nawaz Sharif on the issue,” the president said, in an exclusive interview with Geo News which will be broadcasted today (Saturday). According to excerpts of the interview, Zardari sought to negate the impression that he had a personal grudge against Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, saying: “I don’t have any personal grudge against the chief Justice of the Supreme Court, nor do I have any tussle with the Supreme Court or army,” he added. The civilian government had no problems with either the army or the judiciary, he said, and what was happening was all part of democratic evolution, adding that the extension given to Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was history now.
During the interview, Zardari discussed a number of current issues that were plaguing his government. Among the subjects he gave his view on was the memogate scandal, the alleged rift between the civilian government and the military, and the continuing tussle with the judiciary.
Commenting on memogate scandal, he said unnecessary importance was given to the memo issue, adding that he would respect the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS)’s decision for he believed parliament was supreme. He said former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, as a diplomat, was supposed to keep in contact with every influential personality and may have also met Mansoor Ijaz.
To a question, he said the PPP itself rejected writing a letter to the Swiss courts over cases against him and stated further that it would be like having a trial over the grave of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The president said that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s statement in parliament over the responsibility of giving Osama bin Laden a visa was directed not at the military itself but rather towards former president Pervez Musharraf’s military dictatorship. On the subject of Musharraf, the president stated that a trial against him was not held because it would have a demoralising effect on the armed forces.
The president rejected that national entities such as PIA, Railways and WAPDA were inching towards collapse. “The media thinks it is so, but I don’t think so, these entities have only weakened,” the president said.
The interviewer, veteran journalist Hamid Mir, asked him about the certainty behind the speculations going on that Zardari’s sister was going to start an airline by the name of “Indus Airlines”. Zardari said his sister was preoccupied with politics and did not have time for anything else. “But if such a time comes,” Zardari said, “I will ask the defence minister to cancel the licence given to Indus Airlines.”
Zardari also said he had forbidden party workers from using the slogan “ek Zardari sab pe bhari”. About why Zulfiqar Mirza parting ways with the PPP, Zardari said he was unaware of what provoked Mirza to take such a step.
President Zardari also passed a caustic remark that Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) cylinders in a huge vehicle such as a Land Cruiser was not safe, making a tongue-in-cheek reference to affluent people using the fuel meant for everyday commuters who cannot afford petrol.