Gilani: Pakistan People’s Party's defeat was a ‘conspiracy’

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Former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani

has said that President Asif Ali Zardari is waiting for his tenure in the Presidency to be over and then he will lead Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) with a renewed zeal. Speaking to Jang Forum London, Gilani said that those saying that the PPP has been routed will be disappointed in future “because they will see that the party is as strong as ever but it was defeated in the last general election as part of a plan”. Gilani said that he was sacked and President Asif Ali was stopped from running the party affairs and termed it a “conspiracy” that went on to contribute to the massive election defeat of the PPP. Nearly 200 leading members of Pakistani communities attended the Forum and asked Mr Gilani questions on the PPP’s performance in five years and the various controversies that marked 5 years of rule. Gilani defended his decision of not writing to the Swiss authorities to open graft cases against President Zardari but added that his successor Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was given “accommodation” and relief and asked to find a middle way. He protested that his ouster and disqualification was biased and was a punishment to him for not being a “turncoat”. He said that he was offered incentives to turn against President Zardari and the PPP but he turned down every offer and vowed that “neither has he let down the party in the past nor will he do so it in future. Jails are nothing new for me. I have spent time in jail on account of my political beliefs. I am ready to face jails again but will not compromise on principles. It’s due to my political beliefs that one of my sons has been kidnapped and my family members have been dragged into alleged corruption cases.” Gilani told overseas Pakistanis that their loyalty should not be suspected in any case and “they are ambassadors of Pakistan”. He said that overseas Pakistanis should have the right to vote as well to stand in the election to get the votes. “We failed to get support of all parties over the issue of overseas Pakistanis but we will support PML-N and other parties if they bring legislation for the representations of overseas Pakistanis. Overseas Pakistanis are more Pakistani than anyone else and their loyalty to Pakistan is 100%. There should be no discrimination against them.” Gilani said that the PPP government performed well during its tenure and successfully ended its terms but to say that itwas defeated in the election due to “bad governance” was not right. “We were defeated because of a well planned pre-poll rigging. Everything was done to ensure that we lost and it was engineered. The PPP leadership was attacked from all sides. We were stopped from campaigning and our rallies were attacked by terrorists and threats were issued to us,” alleged Gilani. He said that he had implemented 85 per cent of the Charter of Democracy (CoD) in its true spirit and pursued the “reconciliation” policy introduced by Benazir Bhutto. Gilani said he was right to maintain that President Asif Ali Zardari has immunity under Pakistani and international laws, Article 248 of the Constitution and as per the Vienna convention. “I didn’t write to the Swiss authorities because I protected the Constitution of Pakistan, for me to write a letterwould have been an illegal act that could have amounted to ridiculing the Constitution”. “There was a judicial coup againstme but Raja Pervaiz Ashrafwas asked to find amiddle way. Historywill prove that Iwas right but Iwas victimised,” Gilani held. PPP diehards put critical questions to Gilani and blamed the leadership for taking the party towards oblivion. They asked why, of all the parties, the PPP looked absent fromthe local bodies election campaign.Gilani said that PPP has a strong manifesto and its roots are in the masses. He said the PPP will carry forward the vision of Z A Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto. Gilani said that Nawaz Sharif had made tall claims about introducing a new kind of policy and won elections promising to bring “change in the strategy” but he said that Sharifwas following the same policies. He said that the PML government should be given 1,000 days to see how do they fare and what new policies do they bring. Gilani said that he had met PresidentObama for an hour and told him throughout about the damage caused by drone attacks. “I told Obama that drones create terrorismandmake the job of the democratic government difficult. I appealed to Obama to stop drone strikes inside Pakistan so that we can fight militants effectively and on our own terms.”