\u201cWe have to change laws and improve them and then go to elections, whether it takes 3 or 4 months,\u201d he says
\n KARACHI
\nPakistan People Party\u2019s (PPP) co-chair Asif Ali Zardari said on Wednesday that elections in the country would be held after the incumbent coalition government implements electoral reforms and amends the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws.
\n\u201cWe have to change laws and improve them and then go to elections. Whether it takes 3 or 4 months, we have to work on implementation of policies and improving the electoral process,\u201d Zardari said at a press conference in Karachi.
\nHe said he had consulted Mian Nawaz Sharif and \u201cmade him understand that as soon as our reforms and low-hanging fruit targets are complete [we can go to polls]\u201d.
\nThe former president said the coalition government had \u201cno issue\u201d with voting rights and representation for overseas Pakistani, adding that a number of seats could be specified for them after discussions.
\nThe army was \u201capolitical\u201d for the first time, he said, asking whether the situation warranted saluting Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa or \u201cfighting\u201d with him.
\nTalking about the no-confidence vote that led to the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan, Zardari said it was \u201cgood to know that the army can remain neutral\u201d. He expressed the hope that the army would continue to be \u201capolitical\u201d and any problems that arose could be solved by national representatives.
\nTalking about the judiciary, which has been criticised by PTI chairman Imran, he said he had never run a campaign against them. \u201c[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.
\n\u201cI think we should let the institution do its work and help them.\u201d
\nHe alleged that the bureaucracy had been destroyed during the PTI government\u2019s tenure and relations with other countries were \u201cnot even present\u201d, which the incumbent government would try to improve.
\nHe slammed Imran for labeling his opponents as Mir Jafars and Mir Sadiqs. \u201cif anyone can run the country, it is us, not him. His own friends left him because they (PTI) could not fulfil their political commitments.\u201d
\nElaborating on the issues facing the economy, the former president said oil was expensive which was why the country would hold a dialogue. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had good relations with Saudi Arabia\u2019s ruling family, he noted.
\nZardari said the country would keep facing difficulties until the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme was brought back on track.
\nHe said he had a lot of \u201cout-of-the-box thought processes\u201d, including about the State Life Insurance Corporation. \u201cIt is an investment of more than Rs100 billion. Give 26 per cent of it to a business house with a good track record and float 26pc [of its shares] in the market. You will get at least Rs8 to 10bn.\u201d
\nIn addition, all electricity power lines should be privatised, he said.
\nZardari said he wanted businesses to consult with the PPP, which would provide out-of-the-box solutions.
\nHe claimed that overseas Pakistanis had been \u201cled astray\u201d by the previous government and they had no idea about the prevailing heat and inflation in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWe have to change laws and improve them and then go to elections, whether it takes 3 or 4 months,\u201d he says KARACHI Pakistan People Party\u2019s (PPP) co-chair Asif Ali Zardari said on Wednesday that elections in the country would be held after the incumbent coalition government implements electoral reforms and amends the National Accountability […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259964,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[449,452,1298],"class_list":{"0":"post-259937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-asif-ali-zardari","9":"tag-election","10":"tag-electoral-reforms"},"yoast_head":"\n