ISLAMABAD, Nov 22: The jailed PPP leader, Asif Ali Zardari, has confirmed that his party is holding dialogues with the government, but said no secret deal would be made.

“Being politicians and members of a large political party, we believe in dialogue as a key to the resolution of the problems,” he told newsmen after attending the hearing in a Pakistan Steel Mills corruption reference in the accountability court No I here on Thursday.

Mr Zardari said that he would not leave the country like Nawaz Sharif. He claimed the government wanted to hold early general elections in the country, most probably in March, after the fall of Taliban government in Afghanistan due to high sentiments of the public, particularly in Balochistan and the NWFP. He was of the view that the extremist religious parties could take advantage and exploit the situation.

However, Mr Zardari doubted the elections would be held in free, fair and transparent manner. He said in the past dictators had always imposed hand-picked people on the nation through the elections. He said all sections of the society, including journalists, lawyers, academicians, scientists and scholars, should realize that the country had suffered most due to this practice of imposing hand-picked people on the nation. “Even the newly-elected Nazims should realize this fact because their importance would emerge only if fair elections are held,” Mr Zardari observed.

About the Afghan situation, he said the present military government had failed to intelligently tackle the whole crisis, though he admitted the government had lost nothing. “Politics and diplomacy are not the jobs of the military men as they are trained to defend the motherland,” he said.

Replying to a question whether it was not the right time when Benazir Bhutto should return to the country, he said, “It will serve no purpose if she returns and lands herself in a jail. I think she is in a better position to serve the country from abroad besides the people are in abundance to fill jails,” he remarked.

Replying to another question, he said running the affairs of the government efficiently was not an easy task in the present critical situation. He was of the view that different governance systems, introduced in the country time and again, had caused much damage to the country. Replying to a question on the role of judiciary, Mr Zardari said it was not independent.