Daily Times

PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari said Thursday the multi-party alliance of PDM has decided to file no-confidence motions in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies. In a interview with a private TV channel, Zardari ruled out snap polls.

“It’s too immature and too soon to say anything about the elections. I don’t think there is a possibility of the establishment forcing early elections,” he said. However, at the same time, he asserted that the coalition parties would contest the polls if the PTI succeeded in dissolving the provincial assemblies. “I will see how many MPAs Imran is able to get.”

In response to a question about the tabling of no-confidence motions, Zardari said: “God willing”. He went on to say that the motions would be submitted “everywhere”. “Even in KP. We have seats [there]. There are some friends who have gone astray […] we have to bring them back. We will bring a way in which they won’t have to resign.”

Zardari claimed that he had numbers in Punjab which were sufficient to throw out the PTI government. When asked if Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi could be reached out to again, the PPP chairman said that there was a distance between the two of them. “I made Elahi deputy prime minister and gave them 17 ministries. This time they opted out themselves. We have bigger choices than them now.”

Zardari, addressing allegations levelled against him for being involved in horse trading at the time when a no-confidence motion was tabled against Khan, questioned which National Assembly members were bought by the PDM, adding that these matters aren’t just about bribing the people and dissolving assemblies. “I didn’t buy anybody, there was no need,” he asserted.

Taking a jibe at Khan, the ex-president said in the last two months, he had himself shot and then, just managed to gather 25,000 people. “Is this your popularity?”

The PPP leader said his party was ready to face Khan “anywhere and everywhere” as it was not an issue. He added that PPP was strong in Punjab as the leaders were with the party for the last 40 years. “Yes, since we did not come into power for the last 30 years we have fallen a bit weak there, and we are trying to overcome those setbacks,” he said.

The former president said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) should hold Khan accountable and that the government would not resort to the politics of revenge. “Also, anyone can get arrested before the elections, even Imran Khan. His [Khan’s] game is big, and its foundations are abroad,” the PPP co-chairman said.

Responding to a question regarding President Dr Arif Alvi, who belongs to PTI, Zardari said that to comment on the president’s impeachment would be too early. “The president has no power what are we going to take from him,” he said, however, the PPP chairman didn’t rule out the possibility of tabling a no-trust motion against the president. Regarding negotiations with PTI, Zardari said that dialogue can be held with PTI as well, “but for negotiations, people need to fix their characters.” “If they [PTI] wants to talk to the coalition government they can talk to Mian [Nawaz Sharif] sahib,” he said. Expressing his unfamiliarity with the newly appointed Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir Zardari said he did not know “the person who is appointed as the new army chief”.

The PPP leader said that in line with the decision of the institution, the senior officer has been appointed as the army chief. He maintained that the former army chief had never asked him for an extension in the tenure of his service. “A new thought and wind will blow in the country,” Zardari stated.

Zardari claimed that PTI chairman Imran Khan could face lifetime disqualification and detention before the general elections.