- PPP chief says way forward lies in continuity of economic policies, welcomes China’s role in the region
In an interview on Wednesday, former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari urged continuity of economic policies for country’s progress.
“Continuity, continuity and continuity is what is needed,” Zardari said in reply to a question on the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping and economic projects worth tens of billions of dollars signed.
“We appreciate that the present government has pushed forward the agreements on economic projects with China that were entered into during the previous PPP government. I hope this trend will continue in the future as well.
We also appreciate that the present government completed the Multan airport project started by the previous government. If this realism and maturity had also been shown with respect to energy projects undertaken by the PPP government in nineties, there would have been no load shedding in the country today,” said the former president.
When asked about reservations expressed by PPP about the route of China Pakistan Economic Corridor and location of economic projects within the corridor, the PPP co-chairman said that there were genuine and serious concerns that needed to be addressed. He asked the government to take the Parliament and political parties into confidence to make the corridor a real game changer in the region.
“We will force the government to share the economic benefits of the projects with all provinces and regions and not just one region. Decisions about the nature and location of various economic projects in the corridor must be made transparently and with broad based consensus. The party will consult all other political parties on this issue as it is of concern to the entire nation,” Zardari said.
On the situation in Yemen, the former president said that the PPP welcomed the Saudi decision to stop aerial bombardment and expressed the hope that a peaceful negotiated settlement of the problem will be found.