ISLAMABAD    -    Former president Asif Ali Zardari Monday said that they would safe­guard Pakistan at all costs, and then pass on a prosperous country to the next generations.

“We had created Pakistan and we will put it back on path of develop­ment. The country has huge poten­tial to grow as it produces commod­ities which are in great demand at international level," he said which addressing the Convention on the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the 1973 Constitution. 

He said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had never used religion for po­litical objectives and would not do so in the future too. Its founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, however, was ousted from government in sheer violation of the Constitution and also using the reli­gion card, he added.

Asif Zardari said being a student of history, he was witness to the key events the country had gone through.

The former president lament­ed that fake cases had been registered against him in the past for political reasons, but no corruption allegations were proved against him.

He said the Constitution would reign supreme and no­body would be allowed to hold it in abeyance. “The PPP had played its role in safeguard­ing the Constitution and will continue doing so in future also. The democracy had been weakened over the years but we will make it strong.”

He said,“We talked about the rights of Balochistan and Khy­ber-Pakhtunkhwa during our government’s tenure and unan­imously got passed the 18th Constitutional Amendment and approved the NFC (Nation­al Finance Commission) Award giving provincial autonomy to the federating units.” Unfortu­nately, he said, the neighbor­ing country was involved in terrorist activities in Baloch­istan but the only solution for bringing back peace to the province was dialogue. “We will continue to resolve their problems through talks.”

Citing the initiatives tak­en during the last PPP gov­ernment, Asif Zardari said he had signed an agreement for the swap of currency with five countries but unfortunately it could not continue. 

He had also inked an agree­ment with China for the de­velopment of Gwadar Port, he added. “We cannot afford any odd situation now. The PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Isaf is now approaching us for dia­logue, but its chief wants such decisions which are in his fa­vour,” he added.

He claimed that the PTI was paying Rs 30,000 each to its workers and said he knew about its sources of funding. The PTI, he said, had hired political workers, social me­dia activists and journalists to continue its propaganda against the country and insti­tutions. Even PTI Chairman Imran Khan admitted that he had used the funds donat­ed by the public for the Shau­kat Khanum Memorial Hospi­tal, for his political purposes, which was a severe violation of the political parties’ law, he added.

“We will never bow to the vi­olation of law; we will fight on every front to safeguard the Constitution and the country,” he vowed.

‘BILAWAL BHUTTO ZARDARI’

Minister for Foreign Affairs Bilawal Bhutto Zardari while underlining the need for uni­ty among political and demo­cratic forces on Monday said all institutions should work in their constitutional ambit to bring Pakistan out of various problems including economic, inflation, unemployment and terrorism being confronted by the country.