Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari said on Friday they cannot be scared or threatened through “fake documents.”
The PPP co-chairman said so during an informal conversation during a meeting at Bilawal House, Karachi.
“We are not the ones who would surrender in the face of difficult times,” he said. “We always emerge stronger than before in challenging situations.”
The statement by the former president comes amid an ongoing case against him and others pertaining to laundering of around Rs220 billion through fictitious bank accounts.
Earlier today, Zardari and his sister, Faryal Talpur, appeared before a banking court in Karachi in connection to the case, wherein their bail was extended until January 7.
A day earlier, a joint investigation team (JIT) probing the fake accounts recommended a legal course against some 415 key individuals and around 172 entities allegedly involved in transactions of approximately Rs220 billion through 104 fake accounts.
Zardari also said he did not consider present circumstances a difficult time.
“The times faced by Shaheed Benazir Bhutto were difficult times,” he said. “She faced a dictator like General Zia with courage.”
The PPP co-chairman said all allegations levelled against them were “false and baseless.
“We cannot be scared or threatened through fake documents. We have the patience to bear as much as we are subjected to oppression,” he said.
“We will bear to an extent that the oppressors would grow tired [of oppressing us].”
Meanwhile, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said they would observe the death anniversary of former premier Benazir Bhutto on December 27 with utmost reverence.
He said his party would carve out its new strategy at a meeting of the central executive committee (CEC).
Bilawal alleged that efforts were being made to “push the country towards One Unit.
“On one hand gas and the power supply is suspended, while on the other provincial government is not provided funds,” he lamented.
“Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto provided the country with a constitution in 1973, but the dictators distorted it.”
The PPP chairman noted that their government restored the constitution to its original form through the 18th amendment.
“We will not make a compromise on the 18th amendment,” he vowed, saying the masses would defeat the conspirators on December 27.