Daily Times

LARKANA: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Wednesday said that the ‘estranged brother of Taliban’, Imran Khan, is just an extension of Nawaz Sharif.

“People of Pakistan have the choice to opt for either the legacy of Zia-ul-Haq or Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. There is a third one too, who is waving the flag of hypocrisy and whose agenda is U-turns. Taliban’s long-lost brother Imran Khan is just an extension of Nawaz,” the PPP chief told a huge gathering on the occasion of 39th death anniversary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto at Garhi Khuda Bux. “We won’t allow B-team of extremists to come into power at this delicate juncture,” he added.

The PPP chief accused Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif of belittling one another in their aim to get in power and make money. “Currently, all the political investors have gathered at Jaati Umra and Bani Gala palaces. They fear only PPP because we are the party of masses,” he said. “We had put their arrogance to dust in the past and will again push this greedy bunch against the wall. We see Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan fighting. This fight is actually a war between political investors,” he added.

Bilawal said Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan have spent 32 and 22 years in politics respectively but none have succeeded in reducing the impact Zulfikar Ali Bhutto made in just 11 years.”Fight between Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan is a fight between hypocrites for power and contracts. They want power and their ideology is just money and their struggle being deception and lies,” he said. “Imran and Nawaz’s politics and hypocrisy is one and the same. If Nawaz and Imran had done any work for the welfare of the people, they wouldn’t have been doing propaganda against us,” he added.

Bilawal said that Nawaz Sharif’s ‘respect for vote’ campaign is a joke with the nation. “Someone who in his life never respected the vote or sanctity of the parliament is nowadays a torchbearer of it,” he said, adding that his party has always respected judiciary despite being adversely affected from its decisions. “PPP has never got justice from the courts … but did we wage war against it? We do raise our voice against it but with respect. We still demand justice for the judicial murder of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,” he said.

“Masses don’t care about Mujhe Kiyun Nikala. They want their problems resolved and PPP is the only party which is busy resolving these problems, including the provision of basic necessities of health, education and clean water facilities,” Bilawal said. He claimed that Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Imran Khan didn’t inaugurate even a single hospital in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the past five years, while the Sindh government opened 517 new health facility centres in the same period.

Speaking about his late grandfather, Bilawal said Bhutto was the first person to stand for democracy in the country, adding that the country before Bhutto’s martyrdom had tolerance and Pakistan after his martyrdom is plagued with terrorism. “If there was any successful foreign policy of Pakistan, it was SZAB’s. He had no weapon but won war against India on a table in the shape of Simla Accord. It was only Bhutto who raised voice for Kashmiris. If Pakistan is a nuclear state today, it’s the milestone achievement of Bhutto. If labourers and peasants have any rights today and if you have a passport today, it’s because of SZAB. Pakistan was crawling without a constitution for 26 years and if we have a unanimous constitution today, it is also because of SZAB.”

Earlier, addressing the gathering, former president Asif Ali Zardari said that a truce with Nawaz Sharif was not possible under any circumstances. “I am aware of Mian Sahab’s ability. He is part of the opposition and the government simultaneously, but he isn’t willing to accept the election of his returning officers (ROs).”

“Supporting Raza Rabbani for the slot of Senate chairman was a political move by Nawaz Sharif. It was fortunate that Raza Rabbani stood with us,” Zardari said, adding that Nawaz Sharif was not a politician and should leave politics. “People’s Party will ensure that he [Nawaz] leaves politics,” he said.

“No matter what happens, a truce with Nawaz Sharif is not possible. The war will continue and it will be a long war. We will hold them accountable for the past 40 years. This time [during general elections] we shall appoint our own chief minister in Punjab no matter who we have to enter into an alliance with,” he said. He also accused the ruling party of joining hands with the establishment to conspire against the PPP.

Published in Daily Times, April 5^th 2018.