Former President Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari broke their weeks long seclusion by meeting the New York-based leaders and supporters of their party a week before they ended their U.S. hiatus.
The occasion was a dinner hosted by PPP USA president Shafquat Tanveer at his Long Island residence where a handful of prominent People’s Party zealots and local office-bearers showed up. President Zardari has maintained his overseas presence mostly private and has rarely been seen at public gatherings since his departure from Pakistan seven months back.
Zardari and Bilawal also addressed the gathering. The former president in his brief remarks focused on Pakistan’s political and security situation and clarified that his party would not support any “second or third force” but stand with democracy.
He accused the government of prime minister Nawaz Sharif of lacking a national vision for Pakistan’s development and claimed that majority of the development budget was being spent on one city. He, however, clarified that he will confront the ruling party at elections time. The PPP, he maintained, will not be part of any undemocratic transition.
The former president and his son also responded to questions from the small group of their party supporters.
Bilawal Bhutto claimed that efforts had been made in the past but failed. Same will be the fate of such efforts in the future.