Islamabad: President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday said he will not contest the next presidential polls later this year as his Pakistan Peoples Party no longer has a majority in the national and provincial assemblies after it was routed in the historic May 11 general elections.
Mr Zardari said he felt he no longer has the right to contest the next presidential election, which will be held once he completes his tenure in September.
The 57-year-old politician was elected President in September 2008, when the PPP and its allies were in power at the centre and in Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces.
It no longer has the numbers to ensure the re-election of Asif Ali Zardari, who became chief of the PPP after his wife was assassinated in December 2007.
"This time, I will not have the right (to contest the presidential election) because we do not have a majority. Yes, there can be a fight but that fight will become messy," he said in an interview with a small group of Pakistani television anchors.
Asked about the incoming PML-N government's plans to hold peace talks with the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Mr Zardari called for a cautious approach, saying it would be better to engage "political forces" instead of directly talking with militants.
"Then by starting a dialogue with the political forces, you can use their influence on the militants because militants, in my view, do not hold dialogues," he said.
Mr Zardari said he felt he no longer has the right to contest the next presidential election, which will be held once he completes his tenure in September.
The 57-year-old politician was elected President in September 2008, when the PPP and its allies were in power at the centre and in Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces.
It no longer has the numbers to ensure the re-election of Asif Ali Zardari, who became chief of the PPP after his wife was assassinated in December 2007.
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"This time, I will not have the right (to contest the presidential election) because we do not have a majority. Yes, there can be a fight but that fight will become messy," he said in an interview with a small group of Pakistani television anchors.
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Asked about the incoming PML-N government's plans to hold peace talks with the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Mr Zardari called for a cautious approach, saying it would be better to engage "political forces" instead of directly talking with militants.
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"Then by starting a dialogue with the political forces, you can use their influence on the militants because militants, in my view, do not hold dialogues," he said.
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