Imran Khan won't be the prime minister after Gillani wins in Senate polls: former president Asif Zardari

By
Zia Ur Rehman

  • Imran’s premiership will end once Gillani wins Senate chairperson seat, says Asif Ali Zardari
  • Former premier Yusuf Raza Gillani calls on former president Asif Ali Zardari
  • The two men discussed the country's political situation and the March 3 Senate election


KARACHI: Imran Khan won't be the prime minister once Yusuf Raza Gillani becomes the Senate chairperson, says former president Asif Ali Zardari.

Gillani, a former prime minister, discussed Pakistan's political situation and the upcoming Senate polls in a meeting with Zardari Sunday.

PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and other party leaders were also present.

Zardari briefed them on his contact with former premier Nawaz Sharif and PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Read more: Senate polls: Nawaz assures Zardari of PML-N's support for Yusuf Raza Gilani

"It is time for the selected [government] to be worried," Zardari was quoted as saying by The News

The PDM will surprise the government in the Senate elections, he said, adding that he induced the PDM to contest the by-polls unanimously and the result is overwhelming. 

He said the Senate poll results will be even worse for the PTI government.

PTI meets GDA, MQM-P leaders

In another meeting, PTI sent a high-powered delegation to meet with leaders of its allies Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) Sunday.  

Read more: PTI challenges nomination papers of PDM candidate Yusuf Raza Gilani

The meeting was held in a bid to win maximum seats in the upcoming Senate polls in Sindh.

Leaders of the three political parties, which are also coalition partners in the federal government and part of the combined opposition in the Sindh Assembly, agreed to jointly take part in the March 3 Senate elections and mulled several strategies for the distribution of tickets for five seats of the Upper House of Parliament, including three general, and one each reserved for technocrats and women, The News reported.

They also discussed the steps to curb horse trading in the Senate polls. The PTI delegation comprised three federal ministers Asad Umar, Dr Hafeez Shaikh, Muhammad Mian Soomro and former opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi.

Sheikh is a PTI candidate for the Senate polls from Islamabad. At noon, the PTI delegation met the MQM-P leaders at the latter's office in Karachi’s Bahadurabad where they deliberated upon the strategy for the upcoming Senate elections. MQM-P Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Senior Deputy Convener Aamir Khan, senior leader Faisal Sabzwari, Federal Minister Syed Aminul Haque, former mayor Waseem Akhtar and others represented their party in the meeting.