NRO brought back Nawaz, elections, democracy: Asif Zardari

ISLAMABAD: Former President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday said the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) brought back democracy, Nawaz, and elections back to Pakistan. 

Addressing a press conference in the country's capital on Tuesday, the co-chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said his rivals framed him. 

"Twelve cases were lodged against me during Ghulam Ishaq's tenure," he said. "I fought each one of them while I was imprisoned." 

Zardari also claimed that each case against him was politically motivated. 

"I won all the cases against me but they [political rivals] dragged them for long durations as they feared not doing so would cost them their jobs," he said.  

Referring to the death of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's brother, Murtaza Bhutto, Zardari said he was 'martyred' in order to topple Benazir's government. 

"Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) was used as a premise to imprison me," Zardari claimed, adding that he was unfairly imprisoned for a prolonged period of time. 

Zardari also said that the PPP had never indulged in politics of revenge and would never will, neither has the party held any political prisoners during its multiple tenures.  

"My party never engaged in seeking revenge," said the former president. 

Talking about the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Zardari said the organisation has a different mindset. 

"NAB blackmails ordinary individuals and accepts bribes to give them a clean chit," the former president claimed.   

He further said that he was never accused of wrongdoings in his five- year tenure of holding office because he never held on to power and authority. 

"Engaging in power games only result in imprisonment and death sentences," Zardari said.  

Referring to the recent disqualification of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, he said Benazir was twice removed from the PM house but a rally against the decisions was never organised by the PPP.

An accountability court on August 26 acquitted Zardari in a reference pertaining to his assets, closing the last corruption reference against the former president. 

Justice Khalid Mehmood Ranjha, of accountability court no 1, accepted the documents requesting acquittal of the PPP co-chairperson.

The reference filed by NAB has no legal standing, stated the court order.

After the verdict, Zardari’s lawyer Farooq Hamid Naek, while speaking to Geo News, explained that the reference against his client was filed in 1998 under sections of Accountability Act 1997.

He added said that the reference alleged that Zardari had created illegal assets.