ISLAMABAD Asif Zardari, the co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) and a former president, harshly criticized former prime minister Imran Khan on Monday, claiming that Khan had made it easier for Afghans to be added to the voter rolls.
These statements were made by Zardari in a national television interview.
The former president made a suggestion that the next elections might be postponed, but he also stated that his party was in favor of the idea.
Zardari accused Imran Khan of arranging for Afghan nationals to register as voters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in order to further the interests of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Zardari claimed that by manipulating voter lists, these people had been falsely recognized as citizens of Pakistan.
Speaking about the matter, Zardari said that it was being actively handled by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and that he had given his party instructions to bring it up with the electoral watchdog.
He made fun of Imran Khan for allegedly encouraging the establishment of offices for outlawed groups like Lashkar Jhangvi and the Taliban in the nation, implying that Khan was using these connections for his own political advantage.
In response to a question, Zardari said that the “ground realities are different from perceptions” and rejected the idea that the PTI was still widely popular in the nation.
He asserted that during Imran Khan’s imprisonment, sympathy existed rather than popularity.
When questioned about his potential candidacy, Zardari said that he and his son, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, were both eligible to run for prime minister.
In the run-up to the general elections, Zardari expressed confidence that the PPP would win a sizable number of seats in the National Assembly and perhaps even the prime ministerial position.
In closing, Zardari reiterated his demand for agreement on an economic charter and emphasized the necessity of political parties working together to develop a post-election strategy for the nation’s economic advancement.
