ISLAMABAD: Former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has warned the nation against shifting of power from people to “unelected elements”.

In a message issued by the party’s media centre on the eve of 37th death anniversary of former prime minister and PPP’s founding chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on Sunday, he stressed the need for a commitment towards democracy.

The PPP co-chairman said: “In these troubled times when power is shifting away from the people towards unelected elements the example of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is even more relevant today than ever before.

PPP co-chairman pays tribute to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

“I ask the democracy-loving people to rededicate themselves to the ideal that all power must flow from the ballot box and not from the bullet,” he said, adding that “Shaheed Bhutto instilled in the people that they alone were the fountain of all political power and this realisation has not permitted dictatorship to take root in the country”.

Mr Zardari, who has been living in self-exile for the past 10 months, paid tribute to those who rendered sacrifices for the cause of democracy.

Mr Zardari, who his curently in London, said Mr Bhutto had not only awakened the people, but he had given them the strength of hope and the hope of strength. “He illumined the path traversed by the generations that followed him. No one can rob him of his great achievements.”

“Indeed Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto stands tall as a beacon of light, hope and inspiration for the people,” he added.

The former president said Mr Bhutto gave the nation the gifts of a unanimous constitution and a strengthened national defence system. “This twin legacy of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto must be protected at all costs, and it will be,” he said.

“On this day as we rededicate ourselves to the ideals of democracy we also pay homage to all those who laid down their lives and endured exile, torture and imprisonment in the cause of democracy.”

LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah paid tribute to the founder of PPP and said leaders such as Mr Bhutto were born in centuries. He said Mr Bhutto had given the constitution to the country and the PPP would always defend it.

He urged political and democratic forces to be united against those who wanted destruction in the country.

He said military dictator Ziaul Haq had destroyed the country’s political and social structure just to prolong his unjustified rule.

Mr Shah said: “We should not jump into the conflicts of others.”

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2016