Daily Times

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday warned the government against making promises on Afghanistan it can’t keep.

“The government must not make promises it will be unable to deliver on to the US and NATO,” he told a press conference in Karachi. “US first plays hardball by coming in and expecting us to cut off all ties with banned groups to make us look like a villain, but when they come to negotiate they expect us to use very same links to help them strike a deal,” he said. “The prime minister should not overpromise on Afghanistan and pretend that we can solve all the problems there. In case we fail, we will be scapegoated,” he warned.

Bilawal said the government has short-term goals and agreed to all of Washington’s conditions to ‘please’ them. He said Pakistan’s interests could have been furthered if the prime minister had gone on these trips as the entire nation’s representative. “If he had reached out to the opposition, we could have given him some of our suggestions,” he said.

Bilawal said instead of criticising Pakistan’s real enemies, Imran Khan chose to censure the opposition at his Washington ‘jalsa’. “This shows that the prime minister is a weak man,” he said. “Despite the way he [Imran] has conducted himself there [in Washington], our party supports the government wanting to engage with different countries,” he added.

Bilawal called for the judiciary to take notice of the deteriorating health of incarcerated former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. “We demand that the government provide all citizens with their basic rights,” he added.

The PPP chairman announced that the opposition will stage nationwide protests on Thursday (today) to mark ‘black day when the mandate of the people was stolen a year ago’. “We want the public to come out in the capital cities of every province to mark the day. The entire nation will cry out against this government … I promise you that,” he said. “The entire nation knows that this government is selected and the people have clearly rejected it. I ask you [the public], who are being bludgeoned by this government’s economic policies, I want to stand up for your rights, but I also need you to help me by coming out in force tomorrow,” he implored.

Bilawal reiterated that National Party’s Hasil Bizenjo will be the new chairman of the Upper House. He claimed that the government has been throwing money at senators in an attempt to nominate a chairman of the Upper House of their choosing. He said the senators of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) are in contact with the members of his party.

Meanwhile, following the success of Muhammad Bux Mahar in NA-205 Ghotki by-polls, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto has decided to take resignation from party MPA from Sindh Sardar Ali Nawaz Mahar for supporting the rival candidate in the by-election. The PPP MPA was found supporting an independent candidate in the Ghotki by-polls that took place on Tuesday. It was also decided to take resignation from Chairman of District Council Ghotki Haji Khan Mahar as he was too supporting the rival candidate of the PPP in NA-205 by-polls.