Pakistan's former president Asif Ali Zardari was today acquitted in a corruption case dating back to the 1990s when his slain wife Benazir Bhutto was prime minister.
Known as SGS-Cotecna reference case, it was related to the awarding of pre-shipment contracts to a Swiss company in which Pakistan People's Party chief Zardari had allegedly received kickbacks during Bhutto's term as prime minister.
An accountability court had reserved the judgment on November 11 after completion of the arguments, which was announced today by judge Muhammad Bashir.
"The court has honourably acquitted Asif Ali Zardari, in 18-year-old reference cases for which he had spent eight years in prison," his counsel Farooq Hussain Naek said.
The case was initially launched in 1997 against Zardari, Bhutto and some other officials.
Zardari had maintained that the case against him was politically motivated.
Bhutto's name was deleted from the list after she was killed in 2007, while another accused and former Federal Board of Revenue chairman AR Siddiqui has already been acquitted.
Zardari who faced at least five cases of corruption has already been acquitted in three graft cases of the 1990s.
(Reopens FGN 9)
Zardari was quick to call up the new army chief, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, to felicitate him soon after he had received the baton of command from Gen Raheel last month.
Insiders say the PPP is in the process of defining Zardari's new role as the 'patriarch' of the party to benefit from his political acumen while he stays behind the scenes.
"He would be particularly helpful in consolidating PPP's position in the smaller provinces. The party wants to utilise his experience in traditional politics," says a senior PPP leader.
Zardari would leave Punjab to an increasingly aggressive Bilawal. He has already delegated the party's organisational matters to his son, he said.
Bilawal has given the ruling party until December 27 to accept his four demands or else face the wrath of PPP.
The PPP feels Zardari's style of politics will be of much help in the smaller provinces, especially in Sindh and Balochistan, where political scene is still dominated by fuedal lords.
"We plan to add six to seven more seats to our strength in the National Assembly from Sindh and a few from Balochistan in the next general elections. Here, we would need a leader who has expertise in traditional politics of give and take. No one can rival Zardari's skills in such matters," said a close aide of Bilawal.
Bilawal, the scion of the Bhutto dynasty, would copy the aggressive style of politics introduced in the party by his maternal grandfather and PPP founder Zulifikar Ali Bhutto and later successfully adopted by the late Benazir Bhutto.
Thus Bilawal would make a serious attempt to reclaim the ground the PPP has ceded to other parties in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
PPP insiders say some 'surprises' are expected on December 27 in Garhi Khuda Bukhash when the party observes Benazir's death anniversary.
"Subsequently, some prominent political figures from Punjab, mainly from South Punjab, would also jump ship to join the PPP before the party kick-starts its protest campaign in the province," claimed another close aide of Bilawal.
Meanwhile, ruling Pakistan Muslims League-Nawaz has welcomed the return of Zardari.
Railway Minister Khawja Saad Rafique said that Zardari's presence will have sobering effect on the politics of his son Bilawal.
