Former President Asif Ali Zardari said on Wednesday that there was no need of a President in the country.
Former President Asif Ali Zardari said on Wednesday that there was no need of a President in the country.
“The office of the President should be abolished as it is a burden on the national exchequer. There is no need for 1,500-strong staff of the Presidency,” he said in an interview with a Pakistani television channel.
Mr Zardari, who himself remained the head of the state from 2008 to 2013, said that the Parliament should be made more powerful.
Hinting at Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) dissident Mustafa Kamal’s call for a presidential form of government, he said, “People back presidential system without understanding it as there will be no power of the Parliament in that system.”
Mr Zardari said that he would not be happy if the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) begins investigations in Punjab after Sindh. “It would amount to slapping someone in return of a slap you have just received,” he added.
Talking about NAB, he said that in the Charter of Democracy both the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had decided to amend the law, and the salaries of NAB employees had even been blocked, but later Prime Minister Sharif had a change of heart.
Asked why he had left Pakistan just as the NAB began arresting government officials on charges of corruption he said, “I was ill. I am still getting treatment, and will be back when my health gets better.”
On the arrest of Uzair Baloch and its implications, he said, “Who is ‘he’ ” He said he faced many allegations ranging from the murder of Murtaza Bhutto to robbing a bank, but he won all these cases in courts. The PPP leader said for the last 27 years, accountability of only Asif Ali Zardari has been carried out. He said everybody including former military ruler Pervez Musharraf should face accountability. Talking about Dr Asim Hussain, he said they were childhood friends. “I called him ‘hare’. I was the one who motivated him to leave Nazimabad and shift to Defence. His arrest is only a tactic to pressurize the PPP.” About the dangers Sindh government may face in the future, he said after the 18th Amendment, neither Sindh Assembly could be dissolved nor could governor rule be invoked. He said the only democratic way to dent the government is the resolution of no-confidence, which the opposition is welcomed to bring anytime.
