ISLAMABAD - Former President Asif Ali Zardari said yesterday that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was part of the coalition government not a component of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). In a statement, Zardari said the PPP and the PDM have their own views on different issues.
“The PPP is not in the PDM but is a part of the government. The PPP and the PDM have their own views. There could be negotiations with politicians and political parties but (Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chief) Imran Khan is not a politician,” he said.
Zardari said that the Sindh has reservations on the ongoing digital census. Regarding alliance with other political parties in the next elections he said that “we will see when the elections are held.” Zardari said that people struggle in politics and do hard work like Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani who was imprisoned for six years and that is why the PPP chose him as the prime minister during the PPP government in 2008.
“Imran Khan fears facing courts but a politician does not fear the courts or the prisons,” he said. Meanwhile, speaking to the media in Vehari, Zardari said that taking U-turn is in the nature of Imran Khan. “Imran Khan wanted to sell all the institutions of the country but we saved the country by ousting him from power. It is the power and authority of interior minister to arrest Imran Khan in any case,” he said.Zardari said he has personal contacts with the people of Vehari. He said that politics is the art of possibilities. The PPP supremo said Imran Khan did not win the by-election in Rajanpur on the basis of popularity but due to price-hike and the women voted for his party because they run the kitchen for the family. To a question about contesting elections on a National Assembly seat from Vehari, he said that “if you people are inviting me to contest, then he does not have any objection.”
Responding to a question about judiciary, he said that the way “we have to put the economy and other things on the right track and also deal with the military mindset we have to also deal with the judiciary.”
He said judiciary is also from the people in the society, “we have to talk to them. They were lawyers before and now have become judges.” Responding to a question about default, he said that Pakistan is a country and not a public limited company which will vanish.”
Zardari reminded that Japan and other countries have defaulted in the past and default does not mean that the country is finished. “During our government 2008-13, we increased the salaries and pensions and provided employment,” he added.