NOWSHERA: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Monday said conspiracies were being hatched to weaken the PPP but the party was not afraid as it has always preached democracy.
“The PPP has presence in all four provinces,” the former president said while addressing a workers’ convention in Nowshera.
“Efforts are being made to weaken our party but we are not afraid [to face this] because we preach love and democracy,” he said.
The former president also claimed that he understands the nation’s pain better than all other [political opponents].
“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) should not lose hope,” he said, adding that the PPP will combine the powers of the province with its own strength to bring an end to all of KP’s issues.
Earlier in the day, Zardari had said that he had told former prime minister Nawaz Sharif that he would not rock the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s boat in the first four years of the government.
Addressing party workers in Peshawar, Zardari also spoke about Sunday’s by-poll in Lahore’s NA-120 constituency where Kulsoom Nawaz emerged victorious.
“I don’t see the establishment backing me up,” said Zardari, adding that he sees a ‘Jiyala’ at his back.
“If you listen to Maryam Nawaz’s statements following the victory, there is a lot to observe,” he remarked.
Zardari said that if Nawaz Sharif intended to implement the Charter of Democracy back in the day, then the PPP workers wouldn’t have languished in jails.
“I had warned them not to be royalty but they turned into kings and princes,” he said, mocking the PML-N leadership.
During Zardari’s speech, the workers got unruly and chanted slogans against the party leadership. The workers reportedly had a grievance that the PPP co-chairman did not meet them.
The former president’s address came a day after the hotly-contested NA-120 by-elections, where PML-N candidate and former PM Nawaz’s wife secured the seat from her party’s stronghold. She was contesting the election mainly against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate Yasmin Rashid who was the runner-up in the key by-poll.
Among others were Milli Muslim League’s candidate Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh and PPP candidate Faisal Mir, both of whom failed to gather a sizeable number of votes.
