Zardari destroys Bhutto’s Constitution: Qureshi

Arrives in Karachi as PTI begins contacts with political parties

KARACHI, APR 02 (DNA) — Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Sunday that PPP was proud of the 18th Amendment but “Bhutto’s grandson has decided to attack Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s Constitution.

In a news conference on reaching the city, the former foreign minister has asked PPP to clear its stance whether they were standing with the Constitution or abrogating it. “Either the PPP stands with the Constitution or it should announce that it is abrogating it,” he said, adding that the silence that PPP has adopted was not enough.

Taking aim at the former president and PPP co-chairman, Qureshi said: Asif Ali Zardari has destroyed what Bhutto created”. “The National Assembly speaker is an obstacle in our return to the house. Bhutto’s Constitution has been occupied by the Zardaris,” Qureshi added.

He further said that under the current political circumstances, the 1973 Constitution that the PPP was proud of, was being tainted. Shah Mehmood Qureshi also lashed out at the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for “attacking” the Constitution and “pressurising the Supreme Court”.

He went on to say that the coalition government was using every tactic to delay general elections and for that, the new bill limiting the CJP’s powers was also passed in the parliament. The PTI vice-chairman said that President Dr Arif Alvi has already begun consultations with lawyers.

He also urged the legal community “to play a role in the country’s history”. The constitutional crisis in Pakistan deepened as the ruling coalition in the Centre, led by PML-N, hinted that it would not accept the decision of the three-member SC bench hearing the polls delay case.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi claimed the PML-N leadership has decided to attack the Constitution, while Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has hinted at directly attacking judges. The PML-N has accelerated its efforts to pressurize the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the PTI leader alleged, adding the PML-N is harassing judges in order to pressurize them.

The PTI leader said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif invited all stakeholders for talks from the floor of the Senate. After saying that to save Pakistan from a political turmoil, everyone will have to sit and talk, he says they will not talk to Imran Khan, Qureshi remarked.

Earlier, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi reached Karachi on Sunday. Qureshi was received at the airport by party leaders Ali Zaidi, Imran Ismail and Haleem Adil Sheikh. Qureshi is scheduled to meet with leaders of the Grand Democratic Alliance.

The PTI has decided to intensify its contacts with other parties in the wake of a stand-off with the government over elections to the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies, and the meeting with GDA is a part of that campaign.

Qureshi says he will convey the message of PTI Chairman Imran Khan to the leaders of GDA, which is in the opposition in the National Assembly. He further told the media that the party’s Karachi President Imran Ismail has invited the GDA leadership for Iftar today.