In startling revelations, former president says \u201cminus-Zardari\u201d PPP offered six ministries to join PTI govt
\nKarachi
\nFormer president Asif Ali Zardari believes that no party alone would be able to form the next government after the general elections in 2024, terming his son, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, \u201cinexperienced\u201d.
\nBilawal has been campaigning across the country and touting his party as the solution to Pakistan\u2019s ills, while also asking \u201cold politicians\u201d to sit back and allow the new generation to lead from the front in the elections slated to take place on February 8 next year.
\nMajor political parties have started their campaign \u2014 either through political campaigns or by bringing in politicos to their ranks \u2014 and the PPP seems to be at the forefront right now as it is holding rallies in several cities with Bilawal leading them \u2014 and asking people to choose him.
\nBut Zardari, during an exclusive interview with Hamid Mir on Geo News\u2019 programme \u201cCapital Talk\u201d, said no party would be able to secure a majority of 172 seats in the National Assembly, and alliances would be forged undoubtedly.
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s a chessboard? On this chessboard [the National Assembly], no one can secure 172 seats alone.\u201d
\nWith Bilawal launching scathing attacks on the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the PPP\u2019s former allies in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government in the Centre, the Nawaz Sharif-led party has decided not to hit back at the PPP.
\nZardari said he supports the PML-N\u2019s stance to ensure a conducive environment as it is better that everyone respects each other so things can move forward smoothly \u2014 as there is a possibility that alliances would be formed in the future.
\nBilawal \u2018inexperienced\u2019
\nPPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in his election rallies, has asked old politicians (or babay) to sit home, claiming the way they conduct business had harmed the nation.
\nBut Zardari told Mir that Bilawal is \u201cinexperienced\u201d and that it would take some time for him to gain that experience. \u201cBilawal is much more talented than I am, but he isn\u2019t experienced.\u201d
\nBilawal is calling everyone \u201cbabay\u201d (old politicians), not just me. The PPP stalwart said the new generation in every house says, \u201cDad, you don\u2019t know anything\u201d.
\nThe former president said the new generation has its own mindset and the right to express itself, noting that if he tries to intervene in their affairs, it would just lead to more mess.
\n\u201cIf Bilawal says, \u2018You do politics, I won\u2019t\u2019, then what can I do? People learn over time in politics. I have made several mistakes myself.\u201d
\nZardari also mentioned that if they were in business, then Bilawal\u2019s narrative would have been the same, \u201cYou [Zardari] don\u2019t know anything. It\u2019s the same in politics,\u201d he mentioned.
\nBilawal, during his rallies, has also mentioned that old politicians took revenge on their rivals when they came into power, specifically targeting the PML-N.
\nZardari said during his tenures, there was no political prisoner as he had never resorted to revenge politics. \u201cEvery now and then, new allegations were levelled against me, but I never responded to them.\u201d
\n\u201cWe saved the \u2018sword\u2019 from rotten eggs, but they tried to steal the \u2018sword\u2019,\u201d he said, talking about the party\u2019s sword logo.
\nSpeaking about the different mindsets of the top PPP leaders, Zardari stated that there are two parties \u2014 PPP and Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP).
\nZardari said he is the president of the PPPP, which is authorised to allocate election tickets, while his son Bilawal is chairman of the PPP. \u201cI allocate tickets,\u201d he said, noting that he also has the authority to issue tickets for Bilawal in the next polls.
\nWith elections also nearing, Zardari said his party is actively running its poll campaign because it is certain that the general elections would take place on February 8 next year.<\/p>\n
The \u2018PDM experience\u2019
\nSince Zardari has ruled out the formation of a single-party government, the host him what\u2019s the assurance that his experience with the PDM would be better this time as it wasn\u2019t ideal during their 16-month stint \u2014 after the ouster of Imran Khan\u2019s government.
\nIn response, the ex-president \u2014 with a smile on his face \u2014 said it isn\u2019t necessary that Nawaz \u2014 whose party is saying that he will become the prime minister for the fourth time \u2014 is in the leading position.
\n\u201cThere will be other parties and individuals.\u201d
\nSpeaking about the PDM-led coalition government, Zardari said he was \u201cimpressed\u201d with former prime minister and PML-N Shehbaz Sharif, adding that the experience of the unity government was \u201cvery difficult\u201d.
\n\u201cI was impressed with Shehbaz Sharif who would wake up early in the morning at 6pm and start working at 8am,\u201d the PPP leader remarked.
\nHowever, the PPP leader said former PM Shehbaz did not accept his several proposals due to which the country suffered losses. He said he did not want to pressurise the former PM as the PML-N had more seats in parliament than his party.<\/p>\n
\u2018Minus-Zardari PPP\u2019
\nIn a fresh revelation against the former ruling party, Zardari has insisted that the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehree-e-Insaf (PTI) had offered his party six ministries to join its government in the Centre.
\nThe former president said he was told to leave the country as the Imran-led government wanted to form an alliance with a \u201cminus-Zardari\u201d PPP. \u201c[The PPP] was offered six ministries in return for contesting elections with the PTI,\u201d the PPP stalwart said.
\nSpeaking about the ouster of the PTI-led regime in April 2022, Zardari said removing Imran from power via a no-confidence motion was the correct decision.
\n\u201cPakistan was isolated in the world due to Imran Khan,\u201d he said while accusing the PTI government of destroying the country\u2019s economy and bilateral relations.
\nThe PPP leader further said that Imran was planning to hold \u201cRO elections\u201d (a reference to the 2013 \u201crigged\u201d elections) with the help of a military officer to remain in power till 2028.
\n\u201cA truck full of money would be required to buy even one litre of milk,\u201d he said while referring to the worst economic crisis, which he believed would follow had Imran succeeded in his plan to remain in power for a longer period.
\nZardari\u2019s revelations lend credence to the audio leak that emerged last year, wherein a property tycoon delivered the then-prime minister\u2019s message to Zardari.
\nIn the purported leaked audio conversation, the property tycoon had sought the PPP\u2019s support for the PTI-led government to foil the no-trust motion against the then-prime minister Imran.
\nResponding to a question about whether PTI would be allowed to contest upcoming elections, the PPP leader asserted that Imran Khan-led party would partake in the electoral exercise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In startling revelations, former president says \u201cminus-Zardari\u201d PPP offered six ministries to join PTI govt Karachi Former president Asif Ali Zardari believes that no party alone would be able to form the next government after the general elections in 2024, terming his son, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, \u201cinexperienced\u201d. Bilawal has been campaigning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370023,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-370009","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n