ISLAMABAD - Pakistan People’s Party leader Sardar Irfan Jafar Khan Gakhar has said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf have disappointed the nation.
Speaking to The Nation here, he said: “They failed to deliver. The PML-N and the PTI only made hollow claims [in the centre and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa].”
Gakhar said that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was the most popular leader in the country.
He said Bilawal would soon be leading the government in the centre.
“We are optimistic to win the general elections. Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal will be at the helm of affairs after the general elections. The nation needs mature politicians like Zardari and young leaders like Bilawal in the lead roles,” Gakhar said.
He joined the PPP this week and hopes to contest for a provincial assembly seat from Attock on a PPP ticket.
“If I am granted a ticket, I will definitely contest. This will be my first election and I am hopeful of performing well,” Gakhar added.
He said the PPP was the only party that served the downtrodden masses.
Gakhar said Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari were always available to the workers.
The PPP leader said Bilawal was a true successor to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.
“Bilawal has proven that he deserves to be the PPP chairman. He has a vision and is ready to take Pakistan forward,” he said.
The PPP leader said the PPP remained the only hope for the people.
“Our rallies have had great response from the public. We are set to return to power in the general elections,” he insisted.
Gakhar said Nawaz Sharif played a role to topple the PPP governments in the past, supported General Ziaul Haq and celebrated the sacking of Yousaf Raza Gilani as the prime minister in 2012 but was now trying to cash the same cases.
“Suddenly Nawaz Sharif has turned into a democrat and is crying over the past events. The people will now ignore these slogans and vote for the PPP,” he said.
Gakhar said the PPP privileged parliament as the custodian of public interests, “so we put our focus into building its power. However, as you see today, democracy has been treated by the incumbent government as only an electoral contest where rule by cabal continues to trample over rights and accountability.”
He recalled Imran Khan’s speeches in which he referred to an umpire who could raise the finger to oust the government.
“That umpire was Zardari. If he had joined the protests, the government would have fallen. We remained supportive to the government for the sake of democracy,” Gakhar said.
He said the PPP was not given a fair chance to campaign in 2013.
“The like-minded parties of the Taliban won. We were not allowed to campaign and elections were rigged before and during the polling,” he claimed.
Shafqat Ali