NAUDERO, Feb 26: PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of the PPP accepting a government without power, saying: “They are giving us the prime minister’s house with orders to live in the servant’s quarters. This is unacceptable.”

Talking to newsmen after arriving here to look after arrangements for the Chehlum of the late Shirin Amir Begum, widow of the late founder of the PPP Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Mr Zardari said that unlike other parties, the PPP considered solving the problems of the poor an obligation.

Mr Zardari added: “They are ready to hand us over the government but, being a popular party, we consider it as our right instead of accepting it as charity.”

Earlier, Asif Ali Zardari was released on parole to accept condolences on behalf of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto.

Mr Zardari, who appeared unfazed despite seven years of imprisonment, discussed at length the national and international scenario and predicted a global economic collapse in the event of an attack on Iraq.

Without being specific, Mr Zardari said that the perpetrators of the Sept 11 incident might trap the United States and trigger America’s own decline, the breakdown of the world economy and destruction on a global scale, adding in the same breath that his perceptions might be wrong.

Referring to the United States’ support of the dictatorial regimes, Mr Zardari said that the US might soon realize the value of a democratic government in Pakistan and be inclined to support a popular government in the country.

Commenting on the Senate election, he accused the government of blatant horse-trading, saying that the PPP would soon unmask its members who had not voted for the party’s candidates.

He did not agree with the idea that the PPP had lost its street power, but he stressed the need for reorganizing the party.

CHEHLUM: The Chehlum of Shirin Amir Begum, widow of the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was held on Wednesday amid tight security at the Naudero residence of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.