Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Monday the PTI founder Imran Khan should not be in prison if he is innocent. “If Khan sahab is innocent then he should not be in jail, but if he is guilty then he should stay imprisoned.” Speaking to the media after the hearing of the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto presidential reference, Bilawal referred to the current political climate of the country and said “what is happening now is not that bad, much worse has happened in the past”. The former foreign minister also said that the PPP was in favour of hearing ZAB’s case before the general elections rather than after. “We want the decision to come before the elections,” he said and added that initially, the PPP was hopeful that the case would be presided over consistently, “but now we just hope that verdict will come immediately after the elections”. The PPP leader said that he was hopeful that they would get justice in this case and that history would be corrected. Regarding the rumours surrounding the change in election date, the PPP scion maintained that “no matter what”, elections would take place on February 8. “If the three or four senators stand up and say something, then are their words more powerful or does the constitutional and the legal decision of the chief justice carry more weight,” he said while referring to the resolution passed by 14 senate members on January 5. Responding to a question by a journalist, Bilawal said that Karachi had witnessed development under the PPP’s tenure. “This is the first time that the PPP won in both, Karachi and local body elections.” He added that the party secured seats in numerous districts of Multan and defeated Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). “We are positive that the people of Karachi would definitely give the PPP a chance and for the first time, Karachi’s local body system, Sindh’s provincial (system) and the federal government’s system would be with the people’s party.” Speaking about the ‘external influence’ over the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Bilawal said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was given the electoral cricket symbol ‘bat’ as the people of Pakistan love the sport. Responding to a question, the PPP leader commented that when fake cases were being filed against us (the PPP), Imran would say that the institutions were independent and liable to provide justifications. “Now Khan Sahab should also approach these institutions.” He also stated that the PTI founder was suffering from the same things he had done previously. “The norm of putting people in jail and making cases is not right, but this norm was established by Khan sahab himself,” he said, adding that he first needs to repent and then such traditions should be abolished. Responding to a question regarding the establishment’s role in politics, the party chairman said that it had been worse before. He further said that there was a lot of noise regarding the rejection of nomination papers. “If you look at previous elections, this is not a new thing,” he maintained.