Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Saturday said the PPP leadership was determined to hold free, fair and transparent elections so that the people could choose their next government.
Addressing PPP workers from Gujar Khan at the Prime Minister’s House, Ashraf said the people would get an opportunity to decide who would run the government in the future.
“Election is our field and we are always ready to go to elections,” he said.
“Somebody else may be afraid of elections but we yearn for them as it is the only way for the PPP to form a government,” he added.
He said Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto came into power through elections, not through some dictator.
Ashraf said the PPP came to power through the ballot and formed governments in the provinces, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Despite all the criticism and joint opposition, the PPP won the by-election in Multan on the seat vacated by Yousaf Raza Gilani, he noted.
The prime minister said the PPP government had started preparing for elections as it appointed an honest and impartial chief election commissioner, as recommended by the opposition.
Ashraf said the PPP government carried out record development projects in the last four years and would contest the elections on the basis of its performance.
He said he respected the opposition as it was part of parliament and had a stake in democracy just like everybody else.
He stressed on the need for healthy politics in which parties presented their programmes before the people and refrained from leveling unfounded allegations.
“We should move towards mature politics,” he said, adding that the government and the opposition in the past worked together to overcome challenges of terrorism and to enact constitutional amendments.
Govt committed to free, fair elections: PM
