KARACHI - Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said that Nawaz Sharif will not return to the country because he has taken political asylum in the United Kingdom.

Reacting to the Avenfield reference verdict, he said that Sharif and his family still have the option of appeal to get relief from the high court and the Supreme Court. He said the PML-N would take political advantage and sympathies of people from the Avenfield verdict against Nawaz Sharif and his children by the accountability court. Zardari said the PPP was the major political party of the country having deep roots across the country, adding that his party would get more seats in Punjab compared to 2013 elections. Replying to a question, he said no political party was ready to sit with PTI and it could not take two-third majority in upcoming general election. The former president said all the policies of the PML-N’s last government failed miserably and Ishaq Dar always damaged the national economy.

The PPP co-chairman said he was seeing a coalition government after July 25 general election. Worst democracy was much better than the best dictatorship, he added. To a question, Zardari said PPP had supported PML-N’s government during sit-in of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 2014 for the sake of democracy. The PML-N government had not given respect to the Parliament during its last tenure, he said. He claimed that national institutions were strengthened during PPP’s previous government and it had always worked for the betterment of the country. He said it was a reality that Nawaz Sharif had vote bank that would shift to Maryam Nawaz not to Shehbaz Sharif.  Zardari said Imran Khan has already shut all the doors by announcing that he would not make coalition with PPP to form the government. Regarding possibility of delay in general election, Asif Zardari said there was no room in the Constitution to delay the general elections.