Bilawal Bhutto Wants His Father Asif Ali Zardari As Pakistan's President

Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday said he wants his father Asif Ali Zardari to be made the President again.

PPP president Zardari, 68, served as the President of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013.

Announcing his withdrawal from the prime ministerial race, Bilawal in a press conference here said PPP, without being part of the new government, would support PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif's bid to secure a record fourth term as the premier, however, he wants to see Zardari as the next President.

The current Pakistan President Dr Arif Alvi is scheduled to relinquish his post next month.

"I am not saying this because he is my father, I am saying this because the country is in a huge crisis at the moment and if anyone can douse this fire, it is Asif Ali Zardari," Bilawal asserted.

"The PPP has decided that we are unable or not in a position to join the federal government ourselves and will not be interested in taking ministries in such a setup. But we also don't want to see political chaos in the country," he said at the press conference organised after the PPP's high-powered Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting under his leadership.

Bilawal said his party had concerns about the election results but decided to accept them "in the larger interest of the country".

To that end, the PPP will be willing to support the case of important votes — a candidate of the PM of Pakistan — and issue to issue basis to ensure that the government is formed and political stability is restored," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)