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Democracy has taken revenge: Zardari

President-elect Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday said parliament was sovereign and the president should be subservient to parliament.

“Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had stated that democracy is the best revenge and the people of the country made it possible,” he said in his maiden brief chat with newsmen after being elected as the president at an Iftar dinner hosted by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in honour of parliamentarians at the Prime Minister House here on Friday.

Asif Ali Zardari, while addressing the parliamentarians belonging to the ruling coalition, said that he would be answerable to parliament.

Asif Zardari, flanked by his daughters Bakhtawar and Asifa, said that the democratic journey had now reached its idealistic destination. “It is the victory of the political philosophy of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and it has been proven that democracy is the best revenge,” he added.

The president-elect said with his election the party had crossed another milestone and the democratic process had completed. “I reiterate that parliament is sovereign and the president would be subservient to the house of the people’s representatives,” he added.

The president-elect said: “Democracy talks and everyone hears and those who say that the PPP or the presidency is controversial would prove incorrect and under our guardianship and our stewardship, I would say, listen to democracy. Ninety-nine per cent of the people have spoken,” Zardari said.

He said he would continue to follow the philosophy of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Shaheed and Benazir Bhutto Shaheed for serving the nation. “The man in uniform never performs but democracy talks and everybody hears,” he added.

He said it was the victory of the democratic forces that parliament had elected him the president with two-thirds majority.

Later, in his remarks Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said the victory of Asif Ali Zardari would prove to be a source of strength to the federation. He said as symbol of the federation, the PPP would continue to work for strengthening the country.

The prime minister congratulated the nation on the victory of Asif Ali Zardari.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued after his election, Asif Ali Zardari thanked the nation for electing him as the 12th president of Pakistan with an overwhelming majority.

“In the name of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed, I humbly thank the people of Pakistan for their faith in me and for entrusting me with the responsibility to represent them at the highest office of the country,” he added.

He said that he pledged to carry forward the mission of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto for a democratic and progressive Pakistan. “I bow my head before God and pray to Him to give me strength to deliver on the nation’s expectations as I have taken this important responsibility,” he added.

He said that his election as a consensus president was the triumph of the ideals, policies and the principles of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, who was determined to turn Pakistan into a society with strong political and democratic structures.

“Today’s peaceful election marks another step towards the transition to democracy that the Shaheed Mohtarma was committed to. She strongly believed that a system advocating people’s rule was the destiny of Pakistan and was worth every sacrifice. My election as the representative of the people of Pakistan is a demonstration that the Mohtarma continues to live for and rules from her grave in Garhi Khuda Baksh,” he noted.

The PPP co-chairman said that the democratic process needed total commitment from all the political forces. “Pakistan’s democracy is being closely watched and arguments are being made about its inability to hold. It’s a challenge, not only for me and for the democratic forces, but also for the people of Pakistan. We have to prove wrong the perception that Pakistan and democracy cannot go together. I want to tell all those doubting our nation’s commitment for a representative political order, that ours is the nation that has made the biggest sacrifices for the cause of democracy, ours is the nation that has looked dictatorship in its eyes and said ‘Kitney Bhutto Maaro Gay, Har Ghar Sey Bhutto Niklay Ga’, ours is the nation that braved the might of the state, yet fought on the streets for their rights to determine their own destiny.”

Zardari said that he must protect and uphold these values as a great responsibility. “I make a pledge to the people of Pakistan that I will do what I have been tasked to do,” he maintained.

He said: “I wish to restore people’s trust and faith in the office of the president that after a decade of non-democratic rule has been seen as the centre of conspiracies against the nation. I have been sent by the people of Pakistan to this office to fix the imbalances in the system, bring peace into the country and unite all the democratic forces to consolidate the political system so that any other option of governance never finds its way in our nation’s life in the name of ‘doctrine of necessity’.”

The PPP co-chairman urged all democratic forces to come forward and support him in achieving the mission to bring complete democracy in Pakistan.

“My presence in the office represents the ideals that the nation wants its political leadership to implement. I need everybody’s support for this objective. It’s a historical opportunity for all the political forces to change the future direction of the country. We must rise above the party lines to shut the doors on non-democratic forces, once and for all,” Zardari enunciated.