Zardari asks Sharif to reveal own secrets

PPP leader says truth, reconciliation part of Benazir’s pact with ousted PM

HYDERABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Asif Ali Zardari has challenged former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to tell the nation about his own sudden political rise before revealing other secrets.

"Mian sahab has talked about disclosing all secrets. I want you to expose the secrets but first tell us how you were made," he said while addressing a party gathering in Mirpukhas, where he will hold a public meeting on Friday.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief on Wednesday threatened to tell the nation as to who was patronising the opposition to his party and its government.



Zardari asked Sharif to tell people how he had won heavy mandates before leaping ahead with the disclosures. "The heavy mandates which you have been getting, or which were given to you."

The former president said truth and reconciliation were part of an agreement signed by the late Benazir Bhutto and Sharif. "It is incumbent upon us to follow it. We bow our heads to that agreement. But the question is that a beginning should be made by self-analysis."

He said the PPP could not be accused of striking deals with the powerful quarters to come into the government. "We always swam against the tide and only after that we reached the destination."



Zardari said the people's support had always brought the PPP into power but Sharif used his wealth to win the electoral battles. "In the elections our mandate is sometimes snatched from one place, sometimes from the other."

He said the conflict of interests between the rich and the poor had continued for centuries and would not end either in his lifetime or that of his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.



Sugarcane

Zardari warned the sugar mills that the government might eventually take over the control of their operations if they would not resume buying sugarcane. "In the past Zulfikar Ali Bhutto nationalised the industries and this system became a matter of pride for the PPP."

The mills, which were reluctant to pay Rs182 per 40kg for the crop to the farmers, closed their operation after a Sindh High Court order issued on December 21. The SHC asked the mills to pay Rs172 per 40kg to the growers and deposit Rs10 per 40kg in the court until the case was decided. There are 32 sugar mills in Sindh. Organisations lobbying for the farmers claim that 25 of them were closed in the wake of the order.

Zardari said the Sindh government was holding negotiations with the managements of the mills. "If they agree, then fine. If they opt to go to the Supreme Court, we will defend our and farmers’ rights. And then let’s see how far they go. After that if they don't start [the mills] we will start."

He said the provincial government was trying to build partnerships with private investors and it neither wanted to usurp the rights of the industrialists nor of the poor. "We want the industrialists to come, invest and build industries because each industry employs up to 20,000 people."