LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Friday demanded immediate arrest of Sharif family members, saying there are serious charges of corruption against them. In a statement issued on Friday, Zardari said accountability proceeding against the Sharifs was being held in an unjust manner despite them being indicted. However, he added, when it came to the PPP leaders, they would first be arrested, put behind bars and then cases against them dug up. Referring to the instance of Nawaz Sharif’s son-in-law Muhammad Safdar, released a day after his arrest, Zardari said if someone was a member of the Sharif family they could make bail in a day. “But our people make bail after a year and a half, what sort of accountability is this?”, he asked. Terming the accountability of Nawaz and his family a farce, the PPP co-chairman said the former were being held ‘accountable’ with a VIP protocol. The PPP co-chairman said they would not accept any proceedings until they were held in the same manner as previous proceedings. About being allies with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Zardari said, “The godfather sends us secret messages for reconciliation from London, but we have rejected them.” Zardari addressed a meeting of PPP Manifesto Committee earlier in the day and said his party’s first priority was to make the country a welfare state. Published in Daily Times, October 21st 2017.