Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of “undermining the parliament”, saying that opposition had no choice but to take to the streets.
“If you do not make the parliament functional, democratic forces will be forced to take to the streets,” he said in conversation with reporters in Islamabad.
Bilawal, who was speaking after an accountability court extended his father Asif Ali Zardari’s judicial remand, said the former president had in the past remained in jail for 11 years without conviction but had “never compromised on his principles”. While criticising the ongoing accountability process, he claimed that only one [corruption] reference was filed after spending a year, while no evidences were provided so far. He alleged that the PPP was being pressurised through baseless allegations. “No matter how many of our party leaders they arrest, we will not compromise on the 1973 Constitution or the 18th Amendment,” he declared. He said that the “tabdeeli sarkar” (regime of change) had failed. “Imran Khan promised justice but he arrested his political opponents as well as the women of their families without any conviction or trial,” he said, adding that the incumbent government had ruined the economy and increased unemployment.
Bilawal said the business community was so “fed up” with the government that they went to the army chief. “God willing, their problems will be solved, but this is a very bad precedent that the people are approaching the General Headquarters instead of the parliament,” he said. “How much burden can we place on our institutions? Every institution will have to do its job. Our defence and intelligence institutions are supposed to deal with elements that are conspiring against our country. If Khan sahib starts directing them to deal with elections, economy and foreign policy, when will they protect our borders, which is their foremost job?” Bilawal was referring to an event held at the Army Auditorium in Rawalpindi on Thursday. According to reports, several businessmen had met the army chief at a dinner reception hosted by the latter. The meeting had reportedly focused on areas where an economic revival could be brought about, as well as building the business community’s confidence in the government. Bilawal claimed that only the PPP was able to fight the current economic crisis.
When asked if his party would join Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) President Fazlur Rehman’s long march, Bilawal remained non-committal and said that the PPP had called a meeting to discuss “the extent to which they can help”. Fazl had announced the other day that, as part of his campaign to take down the incumbent government, he would set out on a long march on October 27, which would culminate in Islamabad. “We and the PML-N hoped that a joint opposition rally or protest could be held, [but] Maulana sahib has announced this march himself.”
The PPP had expressed unwillingness to participate in the anti-government movement because of the inclusion of the issues of blasphemy laws and Namoos-e-Risalat on its agenda. Moreover, both the PPP and the PML-N had also opposed the idea of holding an indefinite sit-in, as the PTI did in 2014.