LONDON: Former President and Chairman of PPP (Parliamentarians) Asif Ali Zardari has said that there is no danger to democracy and he does not feel the need to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Mr Zardari, who is now a days staying in London, told a Pakistani newspaper that he is very happy that Mariyam Nawaz has been made successor of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He said this in line with the thinking of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto who had always supported giving full role to women in the society.
The former President said the PPP during its tenure, gave important positions to women and in this connection referred to the appointments as Speaker, Foreign Minister and Ambassador to PPP women leaders.
When asked that why he and Bilawal Bhutto were not holding public meeting while Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and Imran Khan were doing so freely, Mr Zardari said that former Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsood had demanded extortion money from him which he refused. He said that Baitullah Mehsood then told him that he would regret over this decision.
He said in fact businessmen, transporters and politicians all pay extortion money to Taliban but the PPP has never succumbed to pressures.
In reply to a question, Mr Asif Ali Zardari said that Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were not allowed to fulfil their manifesto by the non state actors. He said that the non state actors named at that time were people like Hameed Gul and General Durrani. He said those who got Benazir Bhutto associated were also non state actors. He said he has met several these non state actors who conspire for their advantage.
The former President said that during PPP regime, relations with the United States had improved but Nawaz Sharif put them in the reverse gear. He said he on several occasions asked Nawaz Sharif as to why he was not appointing a regular foreign minister. He pointed out that when there is a foreign minister, it increases interaction with different countries.
He said before the Rangers moved in, there were large number of No Go Areas in Karachi. He said due to consistent efforts of Rangers , the situation has improved to some extent.
Zardari said there are people who launched a movement against General Pervez Musharraf and today these people are supplying to give more powers to military.