ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader and former president Asif Ali Zardari has said that the country has been suffering due to imposition of rulers without the will of the people.

This was stated by the former president in a message to the nation on the occasion of the Pakistan Day issued here on Tuesday.

Mr Zardari, whose party is on a warpath with other component parties in the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) due to differences on the issue of the en masse resignations, however, did not further elaborate his statement.

Felicitating the nation, Mr Zardari stressed the need for treating all the provinces equally and said the thinking of hatred and vendetta had also harmed the country.

“We have to treat all units of Pakistan equally and this is the recipe of a strong, stable and developed Pakistan,” said the former president, adding that “the state will be strengthened by following the constitution”.

Mr Zardari, whose party always takes credit for granting provincial autonomy to the provinces through the 18th Amendment, said that the 18th Amendment to the Constitution was the assurance for stable and strong Pakistan with an inclusive federation.

“On this day, we should pay homage to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the country. Today is the day to reiterate our resolve to follow the ideology and philosophy of the founder of the nation Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah,” he said, adding that “Quaid-i-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto taught us to love our country. The country cannot forget the leaders who gave the nation the nuclear and missile technology.”

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2021