ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday hinted at the possibility of dialogue with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on national and political matters, but rejected an impression that his cases had been closed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as a result of any deal or National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

“We will continue the process of dialogue for strengthening parliament,” he said while speaking at a press conference at Zardari House.

He said that he had not started any war against political opponents but had always helped them out of crises.

Soon after the disqualification of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the ruling party had urged the PPP to sit at the table and hold talks with it against what it called the ‘conspirators’, but the PPP had rejected the request.

In reply to a question whether the PPP would support the PML-N government for amending Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution, under which former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified, Mr Zardari said that making any amendment to these articles of the Constitution was the mandate of the new parliament.

The former president said that he was being accused of having been acquitted in all corruption cases under the NRO, but it was Gen Pervez Musharraf’s NRO that brought Nawaz Sharif back from exile, restored democracy and ensured holding of elections in the country.

“Twelve cases were lodged against me in Ghulam Ishaq’s tenure and I fought each of them during my imprisonment,” Mr Zardari said, claiming that each case against him was politically motivated and, therefore, nothing wrong was found against him.

“I won all the cases filed against me, but my political rivals dragged me in these cases for a long time as they feared that not doing so would cost them their jobs,” he said.

He said that the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance was also used to keep him behind bars for a long time.

The PPP leader asserted that the PPP had never been involved in corruption or promoted corrupt practices.

Referring to the assassination of Murtaza Bhutto, the son of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, during Ms Benazir Bhutto’s government, Mr Zardari said that Murtaza Bhutto was “martyred” in order to topple the PPP government.

He said that Ms Bhutto’s government was dismissed two times, but she never went for public protest on streets.

The PPP co-chairman said that cases against him had been made by the PML-N and Musharraf governments, but the PPP never resorted to political vendetta.

“My party was never involved in politics of revenge and not a single politically motivated case was registered against opponents of the PPP during Ms Bhutto’s governments,” he said.

Talking about the National Accountability Bureau, Mr Zardardi said that the organisation had blackmailed ordinary people and accepted bribes to give them a clean chit.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2017