Karachi: PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday said that elections would be conducted only after introducing necessary electoral reforms.
Asif Ali Zardari expressed these views during a press conference in Karachi.
Addressing the rumour about early elections, the former President said that he had talked to PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif in this regard and that electoral and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reforms were included in our game plan. These reforms, he said, would take at least three to four months, adding that the government would not go for elections without them.
Talking about the deteriorating economic situation of the country, Asif Ali Zardari said that if there was someone who could fix these issues, it was them. He further said that the country would have to face hardship until the government finalizes the programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Taking a dig at former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the former President said that they did not want any selected person to come into power again.
Zardari also talked about the ‘neutral’ role adopted by the military establishment during the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan. Appreciating their neutrality, he said that it was good to know that the army could remain neutral.
Talking about the judiciary, which has been criticised by PTI chairman Imran, he said he had never run a campaign against them.
“[Former military ruler] Pervez Musharraf kept me in jail for five years but we did not attack his house, and I have said internationally, I want to see Musharraf alive.
“I think we should let the institution do its work and help them.”
He alleged that the bureaucracy had been destroyed during the PTI government’s tenure and relations with other countries were “not even present”, which the incumbent government would try to improve.
He slammed Imran for labelling his opponents as Mir Jafars and Mir Sadiqs. “If anyone can run the country, it is us, not him. His own friends left him because they (PTI) could not fulfil their political commitments.”
During the press conference, Asif Zardari was also asked to comment on whether he had read what was written in the ‘letter‘.
Addressing this, he said that he had not read the cable that Imran claimed contained proof of a “foreign conspiracy” to oust him.
However, he claimed that the US had bigger problems to look after than meddling with the affairs of Pakistan. He mentioned the Russia-Ukraine war and the depreciation in the dollar rate in the international market.
