No desire for NRO: Zardari

Islamabad: Former president Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday said neither he has a desire to seek a National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) nor he actually needs it. In a brief interaction with the media before meeting Shehbaz Sharif at his chamber in the National Assembly, Zardari said government was not in a position to give [anything]. To a question about PM Imran Khan’s tweet about NRO, the PPP leader said he would talk when he would make it to the parliament. ‘Neither we need an NRO, nor we desire for it,” said Zardari in reference to PM Khan’s tweet. Later, Mr Zardari met Shehbaz Sharif and exchanged views on the current political situation. Shehbaz came out of his chamber to welcome the PPP co-chairperson. Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan termed frequent opposition walkouts in the National Assembly as “mere tactics to seek an NRO.” PM Khan stated in his tweet, “In a Parliament that costs taxpayers billions yearly, yet another walkout in NA by the Opposition shows that this is the only function they intend to perform. These are pressure tactics to seek an NRO & evade accountability for corruption in NAB cases not initiated by PTI.” Opposition members mainly belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) staged a walkout from the National Assembly on Jan 14 after opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif finished his speech pertaining to Mohmand Dam bidding contract. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf led government has been accusing the opposition for making several attempts to seek a NRO and a way out to evade accountability over corruption. However, the opposition parties, particularly the Pakistan People’s Party and the PML-N have rejected the government’s claim.