Zardari resumes political activities, meets Fazl after six-month hiatus

After a hiatus of over six months, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari resumed his political activities and held a meeitng with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman at his residence in Karachi on Friday.

Zardari, an under-trial prisoner of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), was released from the custody in December last year after six-month detention following bail granted by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the Park Lane and fake accounts cases on medical grounds. Uptil now, he remained inactive and silent on political matters.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was also present during the meeting in which the opposition political leaders discussed matters pertaining to 18th Amendment, National Finance Commission (NFC) award, and the recently passed Federal Budget 2020-21.

Sharing pictures of the meeting, Bilawal tweetd that both the political parties need to work together to overcome challenges to democracy, Constitution, NFC and the economy.

While referring to the PTI-led government he said: "The selected government has been exposed on all fronts during COVID."

The leadership of both the political parties agreed to continue with their inflexible stance on the 18th Amendment and the NFC award, pledging to pursue political consensus for the country’s integrity and security.

Speakign to the JUI-F chief, former president Zardari said he had already predicted that Prime Minister Imran Khan was incapable and incompetent to govern the country.

He further said that he had warned the government last year about the locust attacks but the PTI-led government did not pay heed due to "prejudice and subborness".

“There could be a worst food crisis in the country if locust attacks were not warded off and repulsed,” he added.

The PPP stalwart went on to say that people of the country are now looking towards opposition parties to resolve their matters as "incompetence of the Imran Khan regime has now been fully exposed due to mismanagement of Covid-19 crisis unleashing nationwide confusion".

Speaking on the occassion, Bilawal claimed that ccorruption has doubled since the PTI government came into power but NAB is only being used for victimisation of politicians belonging to opposition parties.

Maulana Fazal concurred with the PPP's stance saying the ruling PTI has brought the country’s economy to the worst level that for the first time in histoty economic growth went into minus. "Everyone has to challenge the selected rulers to save the country and its economy as well."