Zardari, Shehbaz exchange views on political situation of country

ISLAMABAD: Former president Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday called on Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, where the two sides exchanged views on political situation of the country.

The informal meeting was held in the lobby of the Parliament House. The meeting also had former premiers Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Raja Pervez Ashraf, Naveed Qamar and others in presence.

Zardari and Shehbaz were also seen shaking hands with each other during a session of the National Assembly earlier in the day. Meanwhile, PPP lawmaker Khursheed Shah also held a meeting with the opposition leader in his chamber.

Responding to a reporter's query about meeting with Nawaz Sharif earlier, Zardari remarked jokingly, "Sir, you make us meet each other, you say, whatever you command [us to do]."

Asked about rumours in Islamabad about his possible arrest, the former president told the newsman, "You always fear so, but I do not."

Lately, Zardari has been increasingly critical of the incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, hinting at snap elections in the country.

A day earlier, he said that his party will form the next government after the midterm polls.

"The Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) government will work for the masses and will give them their due rights," the co-chairman said in a public gathering. "We are getting indication of mid-term polls."

In a thinly veiled reference to the opponents, Zardari said that a fake political entity is always created to counter organic political parties.

The former president said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief wouldn't have been prime minister had there been free and fair polls.

Speaking at a public gathering in Hyderabad, he had said only parliament could take decisions for the nation, and that "individuals with three-year terms" had no right to do so.

"What right does an individual, with a tenure of three years, have to make decisions about my nation?" the PPP-co-chairman had questioned, while addressing the public gathering. "Only parliament has this right and no one else."

Without naming anyone, he had said they keep visiting different places, questioning, "What do you have to do [with them]?

"There have been 900,000 case pending in courts, you should look into those," Zardari had said. "You have no future, why do you decide about the future of things?

"I say it even today that one should act remaining within legal and constitutional bounds," he had added.