- Zardari says PML-N is not kicked out of Senate race
- Defends government’s decision to send troops to Saudi Arabia
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Asif Ali Zardari on Friday refused to congratulate Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on his third marriage, saying that he has no such relations with the latter.
In a reply to a question regarding the third marriage, Zardari told reporters that it was a personal matter of the PTI chief and he won’t comment on it.
Speaking to reporters at Zardari House in Islamabad, he said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is encouraging a rebellion in the province through its blue-eyed officers and party leaders.
“Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif thinks he can save himself from being arrested through such tactics, but he will also face accountability soon,” said Zardari.
Referring to the ongoing accountability of ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam, and son-in-law Captain (r) Mohammad Safdar along with Ishaq Dar, the PPP chief said: “Shehbaz also fears that he too will have to face the music soon.”
Zardari criticised Nawaz and his party for “launching a campaign against state institutions”, saying that the PML-N is trying to weaken the state institutions. “The country becomes weak when institutions are destabilised,” he warned.
He said that the PML N government has given nothing to Sindhis, Balochs and Pashtuns during their four and half years tenure. However, the PPP will not allow Nawaz Sharif to make a greater Punjab for him, he went on to add.
The PPP has never provoked conflict between any institutions, and also that it is never the country’s best interests to have weak institutions, he said.
Commenting on the imminent Senate polls, Zardari said the polls will be held on time, adding that the PML-N is making claims that it is being “kicked out” of the Senate elections which are entirely false.
“You are [still in the race for] Senate elections, your candidates will contest independently,” explained Zardari.
Zardari said that his party had been demanding a foreign minister for the last four years of PML-N government’s tenure. Nawaz Sharif was not interested in anything else except getting commissions in development projects and expanding his own business.
The former president also defended the government’s decision to send troops to Saudi Arabia — contradicting his party’s senators in doing so — saying that he could not oppose the decision because he “could not let down the custodian of the Holy Kaaba”.
“Conspiracies are being hatched against Pakistan, our neighbour is cunning and wants to destroy Pakistan,” he said in the wake of escalating tensions at the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary.
