ISLAMABAD   -    Former President Asif Ali Zardari yesterday said Prime Minister Imran Khan will have to go for the future of the country.

Speaking to journalists after a meeting with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman here, Zardari said the coming generations will not forgive the political leadership if “we did not act (against the government).”

“Kaptaan (Imran Khan) will have to go home. We will have to send him packing. Maulana Fazlur Rehman and I have a similar political ideology,” the former president said.

Asked if he will visit Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) supreme Nawaz Sharif, he said: “Bilawal (Bhutto Zardari) has already visited him.”

Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the time was up to send the “fake rulers” packing. However, Rehman said that he was invited to dinner by Zardari and it was just a routine meeting. “We are not in a position to give any surprises,” the JUI-F chief said.

The JUI-F chief is on a self-started mission to rally support to form an alliance against the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf-led government.

Earlier, he had underscored the need for the opposition to join hands to overthrow the government. “All the parties are unanimous on the point that the incumbent government has a fake mandate,” he had said after meeting former premier Nawaz Sharif at his residence in Jati Umrah.

“Everyone is concerned about the price hike and deteriorating economic situation in the country,” he said. During my meeting with Nawaz Sharif, “we discussed ridding the masses of the increasing burden of the hike in prices.”

He said the leaders of the opposition, “will have to make tough decisions” against the National Accountability Bureau. “The opposition parties need to make tough decisions against the anti-graft watchdog. Justice and accountability can’t be expected from NAB,” he added.

To a question that PM Imran Khan had attached resolution of Kashmir issue with Narendra Modi election victory, Maulana Rehman reminded Imran Khan’s own slogan: “Modi Ka Jo Yar Hai, Wo Ghdar Hai, Ghadari Hai (Anyone who is a friend of Modi is a traitor).”

Zardari and the JUI-F chief met twice yesterday. First in a one-on-one meeting and then joined by the aides.