4:44 AM
GARHI KHUDA BUX: An embattled but defiant President Asif Ali Zardari used the fourth anniversary of the death of his wife Benazir Bhutto to say he would not resign in the face of numerous crises building around him.
“We want to make history, not headlines. I tell you, politics — which we have left to our prime minister and the cabinet — is the art of the possible,” he told a rally of tens of thousands of supporters. “But making a nation is the art of the impossible and I believe I’m doing the art of the impossible.”
The president in his fiery speech said that democracy was still in its infancy in the country, and it will take time to grow stronger. We will only fight for democracy, he said.
I am a constitutional president, added President Zardari, and (Gilani) is a constitutional prime minister.
In a jab at the Supreme Court, which is currently pursuing several corruption cases against Zardari, who currently enjoys immunity as head of state, he asked about the as yet unsolved case of his wife’s assassination.
“People ask what happened to Benazir Bhutto’s case,” he said. “I ask (Chief Justice) Iftikhar Chaudhry: what happened to Benazir Bhutto’s case?”
Police estimated the crowd at more than 50,000. Colourful banners sprouted from the throng, which spread out beneath the graceful, white marble mausoleum that contains the bodies of Pakistan’s most famous political family.
Speaking from behind bulletproof glass, Zardari appeared relaxed and healthy, which would likely calm rumours of his ill health.
Posted in: NATIONAL
