- PPP co-chairman says his party is open to forming alliance with PTI after successful partnership in Senate polls
- Asks Nawaz Sharif to explain ‘aliens’ — the term he has been ‘using since 1988’
LAHORE: Despite Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s public statements rejecting any sort of political alliance with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Asif Ali Zardari, the PPP co-chairman, has not ruled out the possibility, saying “necessity is the mother of invention”.
After a short-lived alliance between the two parties during the election of Senate chairman and vice chairman, Imran Khan had publicly stated that no matter what, the PTI won’t go into an alliance with the PPP as it is “impossible”.
However, former president Zardari told a gathering in Lahore that “the alliance with Imran Khan was only for the Senate elections, although if needed, an alliance can be formed again.” But in the next breath, he mocked the PTI, saying: “They haven’t seen the Prime Minister (PM) House…they are in a hurry.”
Both PTI and PPP had constituted a joint opposition and backed Sadiq Sanjrani, an independent senator from Balochistan, for the top Senate slot while setting aside their differences. Sanjrani was sworn in as Senate Chairman Monday evening after he secured 57 votes out of the total 103 cast for the seat, defeating the PML-N’s Raja Zafarul Haq, who managed only 46.
The election for the deputy chairman had handed the joint opposition of PTI and PPP its second victory for the day with PPP Senator Saleem Mandviwalla elected to the seat with 54 votes against the PML-N backed Usman Khan Kakar of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, who secured 44 votes.
On the other hand, PTI chief Imran Khan, while his media talk at Karachi press club, had maintained that he would not have an alliance with Zardari even if it produced a hung parliament. In reply to a question regarding whether his party would accept Asif Zardari as president to form its government in the centre if none of the political parties got a majority in the elections, Imran Khan had rejected the suggestion outright. He said how could he form an alliance with someone he had been criticising for the past 22 years. The PTI chief had said that his aim was to hold both Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif responsible for the ‘destruction’ of the country, saying the two would be clean-bowled in one ball in the next elections.
Similarly, on April 28, the PPP co-chairman had ruled out any political alliance with the ruling party, which he added only came to power because he let them form the government. The PPP leader said Sharif was not ideologically democratic, adding that, “he thinks of himself whereas we care about the country.” He had earlier said that any government formed without the involvement of his party will not be able to sustain itself.
ALIENS:
Commenting on the imminent polls, Zardari said the general elections will be held on time. “I know it is hot and Ramzan is approaching, but we have had similar conditions before and the elections were held on schedule,” he added.
The PPP co-chairman further said that the party has no qualms about being a part of the opposition as it had been in power earlier as well.
He also spoke about ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s claim of contesting against ‘aliens’ and not the PPP or PTI. “Mian sahib should describe what he means by aliens as he has been using this term since 1988. All aliens have moved along with him [Nawaz],” Zardari demanded.
Zardari further said that Nawaz Sharif has weakened democracy and it is vulnerable in these times. The PPP has always struggled for the sake of democracy. “Nawaz turned into ‘Prince Saleem’ and became our undoing,” he added.
On Thursday, Nawaz Sharif had said his party’s real contest is not with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Peoples’ Party but with the ‘aliens’.