Zardari-Nawaz war of words takes new turn

LAHORE: The war of words between Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif took a new turn Tuesday when the PML-N supreme leader hit back at PPP supremo advising him to refrain from mudslinging.While the two party leaders engaged in heated debates there were reports that Zardari did not meet anyone Monday. Hamid Mir told Geo News that the PPP chief neither meet party leaders nor did he had a press talk.In a statement issued from Lahore, Nawaz said the statement from Zardari is inappropriate from a national leader like him.In a meeting with party leaders Monday, Zardari revealed the details of his tense relationship with Nawaz. “We used to think that Nawaz was very innocent, but he is far more cunning and opportunistic than we thought,” Zardari said, as per sources. They added that Zardari said Nawaz looked like innocent but he was very cunning at the core."We kept on agreeing on democracy, Constitution and civilian supremacy. While we were engaged in politics, Nawaz was busy in trading," he said. “Nawaz has sold us out on every occasion and we were duped by him at all times. I wanted to maintain social relations with Nawaz but he took advantage of my goodwill,” said Zardari.Later in the day, Kh Asif spilled the beans in a talk show about secret Zardari-Nawaz meeting during which PPP supremo sought his help in taking over party leadership in the aftermath of Benazir Bhutto assassination.Today, Nawaz hit back with a strongly worded statement saying Zardari is trying to distort the facts. Was he so innocent three years back that he was provoked by me, he questioned.Without further revealing details as to what happened between the two leaders, Nawaz said Zardari must remember that he, in presence of a political leader, requested me to indemnify Pervez Musharraf's acts through parliament but I refused.The former prime minister recalled that he cancelled a meeting scheduled with Zardari following his anti-establishment speech and wondered why the PPP co-chairman did not speak up earlier about this.On Dr Asim, he said, Zardari knew very well on who’s direction it all happened and that PML-N was not responsible for actions against him.Accusing Zardari of behaving like a puppet, Nawaz asked if yesterday he was speaking my language then whose language is he speaking today. He better refrain from war of words and mudslinging, he further added.'Fake or real'Commenting on the matter, senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir said it is not clear whether Asif Zardari really said that because according to his information, the PPP leader had no meeting with party leaders nor he talked to media. So, before reacting to the statement PML-N media managers should have confirmed that whether he really said that.Another senior journalist and TV anchor Saleem Safi also agreed with Mir saying Asif Zardari in interview with him responded to his June 2015 controversial speech and that there might be some confusion regarding the statement Nawaz is responding to.