Zardari, Bilawal to contest elections to be part of Parliament

Former president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has announced that he, along with his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, will contest the elections to get elected to the Parliament.

He made this announcement while addressing a large crowd of PPP supporters on the ninth death anniversary of former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh near Larkana.

"I want to share the good news I had promised to share: Bilawal and I will contest the election now, right now, and sit in this Parliament," the Dawn quoted Zardari as saying.

Zardari said he would contest election from Nawabshah constituency while Bilawal will fight from Larkana constituency to get elected to the parliament.

The announcement by the former president is being seen as a way to enter the parliament through by-elections in the two constituencies.

"We have sacrificed much for the sake of democracy and politics to save Pakistan. We will not leave this Mughal emperor (Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif) to rule," he said.

Zardari accused Nawaz Sharif of forgetting the promises he had made.

He demanded bringing the Supreme Court decision to the floor of the Parliament and be scrutinised by all political parties.

The former president asserted that it is their right to protest and exercise their democratic right and go to the parliament.

Later, while paying tribute to his grandfather, PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and his mother, Benazir Bhutto, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said, "Millions of people die every year, but the vision, the ideology and the courage of some people endures."

He said the vision of Benazir Bhutto was even more valuable now than it was in the past.

Accusing Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan of meeting with people from banned outfits, Bilawal said the minister is threatening people instead of resigning.

He alleged that people in Sharif's cabinet are facilitating terrorists despite the fact the world calling Pakistan a terrorist state.

The PPP chairman said his party will register strong protests if the Panama bill is not passed in the National Assembly.