Former president Asif Ali Zardari. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has condemned arrest of Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani from Islamabad and said such action by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is like challenging democracy.
“It is disappointing to see that the speaker of the Sindh Assembly has been arrested from Islamabad. Arresting speaker of a legislature amounts to challenging democracy,” Zardari said on Wednesday in a press conference held in Islamabad after NAB action.
Durrani also belongs to Sindh’s ruling party, the PPP, whose top leaders including Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, the PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah were also named in a multi-billion-rupee fake accounts case and are likely to face NAB investigations.
“We will go and face NAB and its inquiry. We have been complying with court orders in the past and we will comply with any verdicts now as well,” the former president said, adding that his party wants stability of institutions.
Zardari recalled that he had called jail as his ‘second home’ and that he is not scared of imprisonment. “[The PPP Chairman] Bilawal [Bhutto Zardari] is also not scared of jail as he is my son and the son of [PPP slain chief] Benazir Bhutto. You cannot scare him away,” he added.
When asked if the PPP was being entrapped, Zardari said the party could not be stopped. “I have given identity to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and introduced the 18th Amendment,” the former president added.
He said he was not scared of being called a traitor but nominating him in petty cases was simply ridiculous. “We will not try to strike a secret deal [with the powers that be], we will face the cases.”
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When asked if the PPP would participate in the long march announced by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI- F), he said the JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman is his brother. “We will continue to fight for the rights of provinces. The PPP may join the JUI-F’s march or may also launch its protest.”
Zardari also congratulated the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif for getting bail from the court in a graft case and called for amending NAB laws.
He said the incumbent chief justice of Pakistan has also commented on the court’s powers to take suo motu notices and the PPP also demands that these powers be reviewed comprehensively.
Pakistan’s isolation
Zardari lamented over Pakistan’s increasing isolation in the world community particularly because of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led government’s incompetence. He said Pakistan has been further isolated after the PTI came into power and the country is going through difficult times.
“There is an atmosphere of emergency due to the prevailing situation in Kashmir but the government continues to exhibit immature behaviour. Pakistan has been facing isolation for some years but now we are seeing an increased level of isolation. No country in the world can move forward in isolation.
“We are seeing a clear case of isolation of our country at the world level. If you cannot witness this, I can show it to you. Just tell me a single country which sides with our narrative,” he said.
The PPP supremo said the PPP will stand shoulder to shoulder with the armed forces if India resorts to aggression. “We will stand with our military from Quaid-e-Azam Post to Bath Island and remain steadfast against Indian aggression.”
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