candidate asks Zardari to withdraw from Prez race

Rezaul H. Laskar
Islamabad, Aug 29 (PTI) The Presidential candidate of
opposition Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) Friday asked
ruling Pakistan People's Party chief Asif Ali Zardari to
withdraw from the race in view of reports raising questions
about his mental health.

Mushahid Hussain Sayed, also the secretary general of
P.M.L.-Q., also alleged that Zardari had not accounted for USD
60 million in bank accounts that were recently unfrozen by
Swiss authorities, who dropped a money laundering case against
him.

"I feel it would be in the interests of Pakistan,
democracy and the P.P.P. that this office (of President)
remains above controversy and I would humbly request Mr.
Zardari that he should withdraw his candidature in the supreme
national interest and in interest of democratic stability,"
Sayed told reporters outside Parliament.

The presidential election on September six is widely
expected to be a triangular contest between Zardari, Sayed and
former Supreme Court Chief Justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui,
who was fielded by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz after it
broke away from the P.P.P.-led ruling coalition.

Saturday is the last day for withdrawing nominations for
the presidential polls.

Referring to a Financial Times report that had raised
questions about the state of Zardari's mental health, Sayed
said, "I do not want to comment on a person's mental health".

"But since he (Zardari) is a public figure contesting a
public office – the office of supreme commander of the armed
forces, who has his hand on the nuclear trigger, who is also
chairman of the Nuclear Command Authority – it is legitimate
for the people of Pakistan to ask whether that story is true
or not and what is his response," he added.

It is a requirement that any person contesting the
presidential polls must be "physically and mentally fit",
Sayed pointed out.

P.P.P. spokesperson Farahnaz Ispahani had on Tuesday said
that Zardari "is fit and well" as had been shown by "his
masterful handling of Pakistani politics since the
assassination of (his wife and party chairperson) Benazir
Bhutto" in December last year.

"Distorting the private health records of our nation's
leader is a remnant of a darker era of our national history,"
Ispahani had said.

Referring to the decision by Swiss authorities to release
USD 60 million that had been frozen in bank accounts over the
past decade, Sayed said: "The people of Pakistan would like to
know what is the source of this wealth because this wealth has
not been declared in Mr. Zardari's tax returns."

Sayed renewed his challenge that Zardari should face him
in a live television debate "so that people can find answers
to their questions".

The P.M.L.-Q. leader also took a dig at Zardari's all
powerful status in the government, saying he should not
contest the presidential polls as he already had many "major
responsibilities".

"He is a kingmaker, the de facto Prime Minister, de facto
Foreign and Finance Minister and party chief. It will be
difficult for him to handle so many posts," he said. PTI