Former President Asif Ali Zardari said on Thursday that his son and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was “not fully trained” in politics and would “take time” getting up to speed.

The PPP leader made the remarks in an interview on Geo News programme ‘Capital Talk’ with journalist Hamid Mir. During the interview, Zardari was asked about Bilawal, who in recent days has repeatedly called on the nation to let older politicians “stay at home” and to give someone new a chance in the general elections.

Speaking in the National Assembly in August, Bilawal — the youngest foreign minister in the country’s history — had also implored his father and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif to take decisions that would make politics easier for the younger generation, which he said was losing hope in the country’s future.

During the interview, Zardari talked about his motivations for being involved in politics. “Politics is my compulsion, not a necessity. Because Bibi sahiba was martyred, Bhutto sahib was martyred and thousands of our workers were martyred. So there is a debt on us and I am in politics for that.

“And then Bilawal is also not fully trained. [We] are training him,” he said.

“Bilawal is not trained?” asked an astonished Mir, to which Zardari shook his head.

“He’ll take time,” the PPP leader said. At the same time, Zardari said Bilawal was more talented, educated and better spoken than him but “experience is experience”.

Later in the interview, Zardari was asked about Bilawal’s views on older politicians. “The younger generation these days has their own thinking […] everyone has a right to express their thoughts,” he said.

He further said that stopping someone would only create more problems. “What if he says ‘you do politics, I will not’. Then what will I do?”

Zardari said Bilawal’s remarks were directed at everyone. “He is saying it to everyone and not just Zardari sahib.”

He said that politics took time and even he sometimes made mistakes. “It’s not like I don’t make [mistakes]. The journey of life is to learn from cradle to grave.”

Zardari said within the PPP there were “two parties”. “One is PPP and one is PPPP. I have PPPP and I am its president. Bilawal is the chairman of PPP,” he said, adding that he handed out tickets to party candidates.

Asked whether he was playing “good cop, bad cop”, Zardari said: “This is not a police station that good cop, bad cop is played to get a confession out of someone. If Bilawal was in business with me, he would’ve said the same thing. In politics too. This is every household’s story.”

‘PPP was offered ministries to form alliance with PTI’

At the outset of the interview, Zardari said that he was certain elections would take place in the country on February 8. “That is why we are out and about, we have to cover all of Pakistan, go everywhere,” he said, adding that political campaigns were “healthy” for political parties.

Commenting on the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) move to oust former premier Imran Khan in April 2022, Zardari said that Pakistan would have suffered had Imran stayed.

He said that Pakistan had been “isolated” from the world due to Imran. He further said that he did not understand what the PTI chief was thinking when he was in power. The PPP leader termed Imran an “enemy” of the economy and held the PTI government responsible for Pakistan’s economic woes.

Mir then talked about reports that Zardari was asked to leave the country in 2021 on one hand and asked to form an alliance with the PTI on the other.

To this, Zardari said, “There are games. Games within games within games. Always. Take six ministries — why should I take six ministries?”

“Gen Faiz said this?” asked Mir, referring to ex-spymaster retired Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed.

“Is it necessary for a 164 on Gen Faiz?” Zardari quipped while smiling, in an apparent reference to statements recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Zardari said he was being asked to form an alliance between the PPP and PTI “across the board”, not just against the PML-N. He further said that he did not accept this alliance “from the start”.

Mir then asked the ex-president why he took the responsibility of roping in political parties for the no-confidence move against Imran.

“The cause was mine. The cause was ours […] all parties had a consensus on ousting Imran so someone has to do the work,” Zardari said. He said that the country’s situation would have been worse if the no-confidence move against Imran had not succeeded.

‘Difficult’ experience with coalition govt

Asked about the PPP’s experience working with the coalition government, Zardari said that it was “very difficult”. “I said several things to Shehbaz sahib but he did not listen and it harmed the country,” he said, adding that these matters were related to trade.

At the same time, the PPP leader said he was “impressed” with Shehbaz, noting that he was a “workaholic” who would wake up early morning.

Asked about the possibility of working with the PML-N again, Zardari said, “Look, what is the chessboard? On the chessboard, neither the PML-N, the PPP, Maulana sahib nor any other party can take 172 [seats].”

Zardari said that the next government would be “collective” and a “national unity government”.