Presidential election
\nPML-N’s Khawaja Asif says PTI changed its “brand” by nominating Achakzai as its presidential candidate
\nIslamabad
\nPakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) candidate for the presidential candidate, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, cannot call himself a nationalist if he is representing the former ruling party.
\nAchakzai, the chief of Pashtun\u00adkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP), has been nominated as the presidential candidate against PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, who is a joint candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other political parties part of the coalition set to form a government in the Centre.
\nAchakzai won the National Assembly seat from the NA-266 constituency in Balochistan’s Kila Abdullah-cum-Chaman, and has the backing of the incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, who has urged his party\u2019s lawmakers to vote for the veteran politician.
\nAccording to a notification issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday, the presidential election is set to take place on March 9, with Zardari as the strongest candidate, having the support of several parties in the parliament.
\nSpeaking to journalists in Quetta, Bilawal said that he has great respect and regard for Achakzai but he “cannot call himself a nationalist if he is going to be a representative of PTI”.
\nHe said that the SIC has the right to nominate anyone as their candidate for the presidential slot.
\nThe PPP chairman, however, claimed that his father, “Asif Zardari will become the country’s president”.
\nAs his party has formed the government in Balochistan with the election of Sarfaraz Bugti as the chief minister, Bilawal stressed “reconciliation” with representatives outside the assemblies and other stakeholders in the conduct of provincial affairs.
\nHe said that Bugti would be a strong chief minister compared to the PPP’s stint in Balochistan after the 2008 elections.
\n“Issues in Sindh and Balochistan are similar. Our complaints are to the Centre,” the young politician said, pledging to take Quetta’s voice to Islamabad.
\nHe also pledged to confront the terrorists and extremists in the province and resolve the issue of Baloch missing persons through the parliamentary committee.
\nSeparately, PML-N leader Khawaja Asif said while speaking to media outside Parliament House, that PTI changed its “brand” by nominating Achakzai as its presidential candidate.
\nHe said that when the brand is changed, the leader should also be changed.
\n“[PTI] was calling others a lota [turncoat] but now it is sitting with a gathering of lotas,” he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Presidential election PML-N’s Khawaja Asif says PTI changed its “brand” by nominating Achakzai as its presidential candidate Islamabad Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) candidate for the presidential candidate, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, cannot call himself a nationalist if he is representing the former […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-391028","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n