The news of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari's sweeping win in presidential poll Saturday was overwhelmingly greeted by his party members in Saudi Arabia. “He is Nelson Mandela of Pakistan,” said Tasawwar Choudhry, chief coordinator of Pakistan People's Community in Saudi Arabia, referring to the long time Zaradri spent in prison. “He was imprisoned for democracy for 11 years,” he said. “Now PPP would not depend on the mercy of others,” said president of Pakistan People's Community in Jeddah Riaz Bukhari, even as Ahsan Iqbal, information secretary of the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, hoped that Zaradri will remain “apolitical” as head of state. Bukhari referred to the sacking of the PPP government of Benazir Bhutto by her own party member and then president Farooq Ahmad Leghari in 1996, adding that now both the prime minister and the president will work in cooperation. The overseas president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which quit the coalition over the issue of the restoration of judges, Qari Shakeel, accepted the defeat of his party's candidate. “Zardari's victory is a result of democratic process. We will stand with him on right issues, but we are still following our principles,” he said. The expat community members from Sindh, the province from where Zaradri hails, were also ecstatic over his victory. “We hope that now Zaradri will take up the issues of Sindh like unemployment, power cuts, water crisis,” said Mazhar Jamali, a member of Muhibaan-e-Pakistan. Khalid Aziz Shah, CEO of Al-Raqam International, echoed the wish of most other Pakistani expatriates by saying: “May Allah make him able to do something good for Pakistan.” __
