Don’t claim to be Bhutto, but share his spirit: Zardari

MIRPURKHAS: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari said on Friday that although he is not party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto but he shares his ideals and his spirit.

The former president was addressing a rally celebrating the 90th birthday of former prime minister Bhutto with a rally in Mirpurkhas today.

Pakistan is currently in difficult times due to inefficient politicians as they failed to fulfill their purpose, he said.

Zardari lamented that Pakistan’s lack of foreign minister in the past reflected badly on its international affairs. 

“They have appointed a foreign minister that speaks English in Punjabi,” mocked the former president.

Zardari also strictly criticised former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-N President Nawaz Sharif.

“Don’t send us indirect messages thinking we will be intimidated,” said the PPP co-chair in reference to Nawaz's earlier statement about exposing behind the curtain scheming with evidence.

Zardari said that Nawaz should’nt speak of behind the scene secrets, as the ruling party itself is the biggest mystery.

“You (the PML-N) is in the government and behind the scene as well,” said Zardari, adding that hefinds it confounding that how come a person incapable of winning a Union Council elections gathers 100,000 votes in general elections. 

While praising ZA Bhutto, the PPP co-chairperson said that the party founder breathed meaning and sensibility into the party. 

Earlier during his address to the participants, PPP leader and Opposition leader in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah said that Pakistan needs those leaders who would live and die for its people.

“Our life and death is associated with the people of this nation,” said Shah.

Former PM ZA Bhutto's 90th birthday

One of the country’s most charismatic and popular leaders, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was born on January 5, 1928 in Ratodero Taluka, Larkana. He served as Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977, and prior to that as the fourth President of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973.

Bhutto founded the PPP on November 30, 1967. The party, through a mass mandate, managed to form the federal government thrice in its 50-year political journey. The PPP is known for braving the harsh dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq, who not only dismissed the Bhutto-led government but was also perceived to be involved in the controversial decision against Bhutto, leading to his hanging on April 4, 1979.

After Bhutto’s demise, the party was led by his wife late Nusrat Bhutto. Later, his daughter late Benazir Bhutto took the party’s helm of affairs till her tragic assassination at Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh on Dec 27, 2007.

The party is now led by Benazir's son, Bilawal.

PPP to continue Bhutto's mission: Bilawal

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in his message on Bhutto's birth anniversary, said that Pakistanis were deeply missing their beloved leader Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as the current internal and external situation required the political sagacity and statesmanship of his calibre to handle the state of affairs.

"Those who snatched Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from us actually tried to eliminate the dream of our founding fathers about Pakistan. But wisdom, tolerance, patience and bravery of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto foiled the evil designs of the perpetrators of both murders," the PPP chairman said in a statement issued on the eve of 90th birthday of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Bilawal said that Bhutto picked up the broken pieces and rebuilt the country after getting 93,000 prisoners of war and 5,000 square miles of our land freed from enemy captivity and occupation through his excellent diplomatic skills.

The PPP chairman said that people of Pakistan would always remember him in golden words as their hero, while his opponents were also accepting his courage, statesmanship, foresightedness and love for his country and nation.

"Tormenters of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto vanished into midair in a natural justice system but he remains in the hearts and minds of millions of people even today," he remarked.

Bilawal pledged that his party would continue to pursue the mission and vision of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to make Pakistan an egalitarian, peaceful, progressive and a democratic role-model Muslim country in the world.