Daily Times

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Saturday said the ‘selected’ prime minister is ‘dancing to the umpire’s tunes’ and he doesn’t understand that in a democracy the people are the ultimate umpire, a private TV channel reported.

Speaking at a public gathering in Dera Ismail Khan, the PPP chief said that a ‘selected’ government has been imposed on the people of Pakistan. “People from every sector are now screaming but Imran doesn’t care,” he said, adding that the ‘selected government’ is on shaky ground and will soon fall.

Bilawal said that with questions on the transparency of the last general election and no political freedom in the country, there is a huge question over the presence of democracy in the country. “Imran questioned four constituencies in the 2013 polls. In the last elections, form 45 was missing in all the constituencies,” he said. “The people of erstwhile FATA fought against terrorists … and now they should fight against the puppets and the riggers. We all have to come out and fight against the selected government,” he said. Bilawal said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has sold the country before the IMF. “His government’s recent budget has all for the rich and nothing for the poor,” he said, adding that all his promises have proven false.

PPP chief urges superior judiciary to take appropriate action over purported video of accountability court judge

Earlier, Bilawal expressed grave concerns over allegations of blackmailing of a judge through an incriminating video to force him give a desired verdict in a corruption reference against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Reacting to the claims made by Maryam Nawaz at a press conference earlier in the day, the PPP chairman said this was not the first time that such accusations had been made. “In the past, similar allegations of exerting pressure on the judges have also been made. It is indeed a sad commentary on the health of Pakistani democracy that such accusations continue to be made so often and so repeatedly,” he was quoted by his spokesperson Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar as saying. Khokhar said that the PPP chairman has urged the superior judiciary to take appropriate action in this connection. “If for some reasons the judiciary is not inclined to address such issues then the opposition parties must deliberate on it and formulate a united course of action,” he added. “It is most unfortunate that even today, political circles are abuzz with pressure reportedly exerted on the judges to deliver preferred verdicts in corruption cases against opposition leaders,” said the PPP chairman. Bilawal said the presidential references against some honorable judges of the Supreme Court and Sindh High Court were also seen by many as an attempt by the ‘regime’ to undermine the judicial independence. He also made an appeal to all judges, who are facing such a situation, to not succumb to pressure tactics and avoid issuing verdicts under pressure.