Lahore, Nov. 13 : Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has revealed that Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani had prevented President Asif Ali Zardari’s downfall during the lawyer’s long march earlier this year.

Ahmed said certain political actors wanted to remove Zardari, but were prevented from doing so by General Kayani.

Ahmed, during a television chat show, also disclosed that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) wanted to prolong certain issues in order to gain popularity in the country and represent itself as the only party in the country which cared for the people.

It may be noted that Zardari, during an informal off the record talk with a representative delegation of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) earlier this week, had said that there have been three attempts to dethrone him, but he has been able to defy the nefarious aims of his detractors.

Replying to a question regarding the Lahore High Court’s stay order on by-polls, Ahmed the court’s decision has left him disappointed.

“Whenever polls were delayed in the history of the country, it opened the door for selection, not election,” The Daily Times quoted Ahmed, as saying. (ANI)