The investigations into the memo scandal should not be done covertly, and all findings should be made public, Awami National Party President Asfandyar Wali Khan said on Tuesday.
Speaking during a talk show on a private TV channel on Wednesday, Asfandyar said President Asif Ali Zardari had not gotten emotional during his speech at the death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto, just as I had advised him. “I had told him that some political and media persons wanted him to get emotional [in his speech],” he said.
He said nobody had approached him for taking over the Presidency in place of Zardari.
Asfandyar said he had assured Zardari that his loyalties remained with Pakistan, “although many still consider us loyal to India”.
The ANP chief said he had known Zardari for around 35 years and he was not among those “who ran away”. “Zardari had to come back and he did,” he said.
To a question, he said, “We had said in the 1980s that the Afghan war is not jihad but a fracas.
Asfandyar said the ANP central committee had advised him against attending party’s public gatherings.
He said he had no vehicle in his name, had bought shares worth around Rs 250,000 in company in Dubai and had inherited land from his father. “If you find any other asset in my name, you can happily hang me,” Asfandyar said. To a question, he said only time would tell who makes away with whose vote bank, however, it the PTI’s right to do politics.
He said ANP had understanding with the PPP and JUI-F in Senate election, but it would to too soon to comment on alliances for general election, the ANP chief said.
