Daily Times

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday demanded elections “as soon as possible” and within the constitutional limit of 90 days.

Speaking to the media in Karachi, the former foreign minister said his party was ready to participate in the upcoming general elections, emphasising that if the polls cannot be held within 90 days, they should be conducted within 120 days. “The PPP’s stance is that we don’t have a political enemy or a political opponent. Our fight is against poverty, unemployment and inflation,” he said. Bilawal said that the PPP had always helped the people of the country and given aid to the impoverished. He said that the people of the country were facing three major issues at the moment – inflation, unemployment and poverty.

“Through its performance, the PPP has always proven that it does people-friendly politics and governance. And that is why the PPP still says that elections should be held as soon as possible, according to the Constitution and within 90 days so that we can win the polls and serve the people of the country and take them out of these difficult economic times.”

He said that former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has been in politics for over 30 years, enduring the most jail time among all politicians. “We want to give hope to the politicians who are going through this pain these days… we say to them ghabrana nahi hai (don’t lose hope),” Bilawal said, quoting a popular phrase used by former prime minister Imran Khan who is imprisoned in Attock District Jail.

“You have never been a politician. You’re undergoing training. You only emerged as a puppet,” he added, referring to Khan. Bilawal said that they want to punish those who attacked the Corp Commander House in Lahore and GHQ in Rawalpindi so that such actions are not repeated.

“The practice of imposing a puppet on this nation must stop. We want to put an end to such experiments and let the people decide. If the people of Pakistan choose the PPP, everyone should accept that,” he added. He also stated that other parties are eager for elections after delimitation, questioning ECP over its “dual policy” on the matter. He pointed out that ECP has unlawfully halted development funds and halted relief efforts for flood-affected people.

“We call on the ECP to abolish these restrictions, end the dual system, and stop the suspension of funds in Sindh. If funds are halted in Sindh, they should be halted in other provinces as well.”

During his media talk, the PPP chairman was also asked about the recent statement by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) emir Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who headed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), wherein he claimed that general elections would have been held by now if the PPP had not gone back on its words. In his response, Bilawal said that the maulana was a senior politician, adding that he did not wish to go into much detail about the statement made by the PDM chief. “But I will tell you this: PPP was ready for elections before, was ready for elections on May 14 and was ready for elections in 60 days and is ready for elections in 90 days according to the Constitution,” he said.

The PPP chairman also said that there was a difference in between how the PPP, the PDM and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) interpreted the Constitution. He reiterated that the PPP believed that elections should take place within 90 days, adding that the rest thought that they should take place after the delimitation exercise was concluded.

He said that the PPP engaged with the ECP on this issue, following which the electoral watchdog brought the dates for delimitation forward. At the same time, however, Bilawal urged the ECP to announce the dates and the schedule for elections.

He also said that ongoing development and welfare schemes were also being stopped in the province and called on the ECP to review its “two-faced” system.