Zardari alleges govt of pocketing commission through infrastructure development

LAHORE - Former president Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday took aim at the incumbent government and alleged that the Sharif duo was only interested in constructing roads to pocket commission.

Speaking at a party gathering in connection with the 88th birth anniversary of the late Begum Nusrat Bhutto, former president expressed hope that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will form the next government in the Centre as well as Punjab, asking workers to gear up for the 2018 elections to defeat the PML-N.

'I had met Saddam Hussein and some other kings and found arrogance in them. Today similar arrogance I find in rulers here (without naming anyone) who have no regard for the poor, farmers and the youth who have been rendered jobless. They are only interested in construction of roads to get commission. They only choose those projects in which they get commission. They seem to have forgotten to die,' Zardari said.

PPP co-chairman reiterated that the general elections 2013 were RO's elections adding that they were manipulated by Iftikhar Chaudhry for favourable results.

He said the PPP derived its power from its martyrs and those workers who remained behind bars for political reasons.

“We always raised the slogan of Pakistan Khappay, in difficult times too.” When workers raised the slogan of ‘Zardari teray jan nisar baishumar’, the PPP-P president directed them to chant “Pakistan teray jan nisar baishumar in connection with Pakistan Day.”

The politician remarked that he avoided from being indulged in Syrian war for the integrity of Pakistan.

Earlier, during a meeting with PPP senior leader Shaukat Basra, Zardari maintained that a Bilawal House would be set up in Multan as well for overseeing political affairs of south Punjab.

As for attack on Shaukat Basra and killing of a PPP worker Babar Butt in Lahore, Zardari said: “PPP workers will not be intimidated by the PML-N government’s arm-twisting.”