PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari. PHOTO: AFP
Zardari was addressing his party workers at the residence of former communications minister Arbab Alamgir Khan on Sunday.
All of the PPP’s provincial leadership was present on the occasion.
After being barred from conducting election campaign in the previous polls, this time around, Zardari vowed to visit every house in the country to convey his party’s message.
“We have got the chance for the first time to run the elections campaign,” said Zardari.
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Describing the 2013 elections as rigged, he said, “Had it not been for democracy I would not have accepted the election result.”
“This time, if Mian Sahib tries to rig the elections, I will ask the workers to occupy the polling stations,” said Zardari, adding that the workers would remain in the polling stations until the results were announced.
“War is being imposed on the people of Pakistan just to extract dollars from America,” said the former president, critcising the policies of the PML-N government.
“Mian Sahib has no idea that these wars will bring a massive loss to the country,” he said. “We don’t want war; we want peace and better economic policies for the prosperity of the country.”
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Accusing the PML-N government of amassing money for their own benefit in the name of strengthening the economy, he vowed to put a halt to such policies.
He criticised the government for not having the foresight and ability to maintain good relations with neighbouring countries, citing the increasing violence at the borders with India, Afghanistan and Iran.
He said, “Americans and Indians were also present in Afghanistan during PPP’s tenure, but I had adopted reasonable policies to run the affairs smoothly.”
‘PPP pioneered CPEC’
Zardari said his party had dreamt of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) just for the sake of the people of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Balochistan as they had suffered from long wars and instability.
He accused Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his party of depriving the people of the provinces of their rights in the CPEC project.
These provinces have the right to benefit from maximum economic projects, but the ruling PML-N government is taking advice from the American government rather than addressing the miseries of the people of the country, he added.
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“We will bring CPEC back to these provinces,” Zardari said. “The PML-N and other parties have no interest in solving the miseries and problems faced by the people.”
Fata reforms
Zardari also accused the PML-N government of having no interest in reforming the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), which is still being governed under the British-made draconian laws.
“We have made the decision to merge FATA into K-P,” said Zardari, assuring his party workers. “PPP gives high priority to the needs of the people of Fata.”
“In its tenure, PPP appointed the governor of K-P from Fata for having better understanding of the issues faced by the people of the tribal areas,” Zardari said. “We have given Pakhtuns their identity by renaming the province as well as giving them maximum authority under the 18th Amendment.”
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“We want the provinces to be strong and have more authority,” he added.
The PPP members and leadership have scheduled a meeting with Zardari for today (Monday) to discuss the reforms issue and party organisation in the tribal areas.
Expressing concerns over the blockage of identity cards, he assured the workers of resolving the issue.
Taking a jibe at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Zardari said, “Khan is not concerned about the Pakhtuns … he is a Khan by name only.”
“Khan has used the resources of the province for the last four years with no improvement in infrastructure or development,” he said.
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