Zardari: Karachi violence isn’t govt’s failure

President Asif Ali Zardari has said that deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi is not government’s failure but a plot by terrorists to distract the government from its mission. Addressing an Eid Milan party in Mandi Bahauddin on Wednesday, President Zardari said terrorists were aggravating situation in Karachi to undermine efforts of the state in the war against terror. He resolved that the government would never let the enemies weaken the country. The president announced that free and fair general elections would be held on time, adding that rigging could not be done on current electoral rolls.“We intend to stabilise Pakistan through resources wherever we found them. We cannot follow philosophy of 5 years, we have to look beyond,” the president said. He called for joint efforts to serve the country, adding that government’s rivals also conceded that the parliament was going to complete its tenure.“We didn’t work for a single party; instead we worked for Pakistan, we will prosper if Pakistan will, we will drown if Pakistan sinks,” he added.The president, while addressing in Punjabi, recalled that he spent his youth days in the jails of Punjab where he learnt the language. He said that several parties decided to boycott the 2008 election under Musharraf but it was Benazir Bhutto Shaheed who opted to go for elections and persuaded other parties to do so. “The history will decide who was right, but at this point in time we stand successful. Even our rivals accept that we have strengthened the parliament and transferred powers to it,” Zardari claimed. He said that politics is a noble practice and nurturing enmity in it is dangerous for the nation. The president said: “We are fighting for our future generations and will successfully lead Pakistan into the 21st century.” He said that the government wanted all parties to sit and think about the better future of Pakistan. Talking about the foreign policy, he said that the government tried to strengthen relationship with China, Turkey and other countries to make Pakistan better for the coming generations. Zardari said that conspiracies against the government and the country were being hatched but “if anyone thinks they can weaken us, they are mistaken.”He said that security, prosperity and stability of the country depended on democracy and his party was trying hard to promote democratic values. He said that even a patwari would not be willing to share his powers but he had given executive powers to the prime minster. He said that the government believed in providing equal educational opportunities to the under-privileged and talented youth of Punjab with an aim to bring them at par with the privileged. A rally was to be held earlier but postponed due to the busy schedule of the president.