Party wants Benazir to be prime minister: Zardari
By Omair Rasheed - Pakistan Times Staff Correspondent

LAHORE: “It is the PPP’s unified decision that Benazir Bhutto will be the prime minister of the country for the third time,” said Asif Ali Zardari while addressing a telephonic conference held at the PPP Lahore President Aziz Chun’s house on Sunday.

Rebutting the perceptions that, somehow, Benazir was to relinquish the leadership, he said it was nothing but the propaganda of the party enemies.

He said there was only one leadership of the party just like there is only one God. After persecuting him and his party for eight years, these elements had finally conceded the defeat, which proved that the country needed a strong leader like Benazir Bhutto, he added.

Zardari said if the government was serious in reconciliation, it should accept his logic and give assurance of holding elections in 2005 since the current parliament and the government had failed to deliver.

To a question regarding the return of Benazir Bhutto, he said first he would come back to prepare the ground for her return and then she would soon follow.

Zardari said his decision to move to Punjab was due to his desire to strengthen the federal bond and show to other provinces that Punjab was not averse to their interests.

He said he would arrive in Lahore on 16th April and travel throughout the province showing to the rulers what in essence was meant by the power of the people.

Political Trends

Zardari said political trends in the region bore testimony to the fact that democracy was spreading all over and that only a democratic force like the PPP could rescue the polity from the ongoing spate of crises.

The party workers had shown that no other force like the one from Gujrat or anywhere else could hamper its return to the power. To a question regarding the situation in Balochistan, he said through his decision to move to the Punjab, he wanted to convey to the leaders of other provinces that this province was not against them and the operation in Balochistan, if any, was only a decision of the army alone.

Replying to a question about the negotiations with the government, he said he had repeatedly accentuated that the doors for talks were always open. When asked how did he plan to prepare the grounds for Benazir’s return, he said, “Through the power of the people.”

Concluding his address, Zardari asked the audience whether he should come back or not. The audience replied by chanting the slogan “Qadam barhao Zardari hum tumharey saath hain”.

Earlier, various local PPP leaders addressed the gathering.●