Former president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Zardari announced that both he and his son, the party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, will contest elections and be a part of "this Parliament".
"My sisters, my children, my daughters. I want to share the good news I had promised to share. And that is that Bilawal and I will contest the election now, right now in this Parliament," Zardari said.
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He added that he would contest the election from Nawabshah for the seat of Faryal Talpur, and that Bilawal will contest from Larkana for Ayaz Soomro's seat.
He made this announcement while addressing a charged crowd of PPP supporters as the party observes the 9th death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh near Larkana.
Zardari's announcement is being interpreted as his desire to contest what will be by-elections in NA-204 and NA-207 by asking the elected MNAs of those constituencies to give up their seats in Parliament for a fresh poll.
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"We have sacrificed for the sake of democracy and politics, to save Pakistan... We will not leave this Mughal emperor to rule," he later said.
"Mian [Nawaz Sharif] Sahab we gave you this democracy as a sacred trust. We made every decision with you. We made decisions in the Parliament through consensus. It is a pity that you seem to have forgotten all your promises today," the former president said.
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Zardari accused the prime minister of "changing the Constitution". He demanded that the Supreme Court decision on Panamagate be brought to the floor of the Parliament and be vetted by all political parties.
We want you and your judges to go down in history as respectable individuals, not as people who twist the law for their own gains, he added.
"This is our right. We will protest, exercise our democratic right and go to the parliament. Go to the courts and the bar councils, and talk about what is happening and should be happening," Zardari said.
The former president arrived at the venue via helicopter. This was Zardari's first major appearance alongside his son and party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at a rally in three years, reported.
