Daily Times

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday said that Imran Khan himself let former prime minister Nawaz Sharif go abroad and therefore he should now avoid making hue and cry.

He was talking to the media in Lahore after meeting a delegation of representatives of the civil society. Replying to the queries of the media, the PPP chairman said that Imran Khan himself gave NRO to Nawaz Sharif to go abroad and now he was telling a lie to the nation.

He said the effort to bring the former prime minister back to Pakistan was the government’s hypocrisy. “If Nawaz Sharif was a culprit then why Imran Khan let him go abroad,” asked Bilawal. He further added that Imran Khan had no interest in curbing corruption, as he was only interested in continuing his ‘puppet rule’.

“I have had a detailed discussion with the representatives of the civil society today because they played an important role for democracy in Pakistan while fighting bravely against dictatorships,” said Bilawal, while lauding the vibrant civil society of the country. He also criticised the government for imposing restrictions on civil society and INGOs, as he said that the PTI government had restricted the role of NGOs working for human rights. The state must take the suggestions given by the civil society seriously because the state is strengthened by accepting constructive criticism, he added. He added that the state shouldn’t silence the dissenting voices and opinions but tolerate them. “Our rulers are not ready to take any sort of criticism.”

According to Bilawal, inflation and economy were the main issues of Pakistan today because people were facing difficulties due to the deal between the PTI and the IMF. He said that the government had said it would not go to the IMF, however; they did not keep the promise, adding that the IMF package should be in the public interest. He said the PPP didn’t want Prime Minister Imran Khan to commit suicide for going to the IMF; rather “we want the PM to go back to IMF and strike a deal in favour of the people of Pakistan”.

He was of the view that PPP always talked about the issues faced by the people, as it raised its voice in last tenure when Nawaz Sharif didn’t give importance to the parliament and the policies were formed for the rich instead of poor at that time.

Talking about Asif Ali Zardari, he said that the health of the former president deteriorated when he was recently in jail. He was of the view that the PPP always talked about the missing persons, as this issue was clearly mentioned in all its manifestos from 2007 to 2018. The state shouldn’t enjoy such powers where forced disappearances take place… we should adopt international human rights here in Pakistan, Bilawal said.

Regarding US-Taliban peace agreement, Bilawal expressed concern over the agreement and said that it looked like the entire focus of the US administration was on the elections. He further hoped that the peace agreement would yield positive results.

Earlier, the PPP chairman had a detailed meeting with the representatives of the civil society, progressive unions and group of leftists, in which the politics of left was discussed. Talking to them, Bilawal said that the destination of the PPP was socialism, and it would reach it through the path of social democracy. The organisers of Aurat March were also present in the meeting and Bilawal assured them of full support from the PPP and the Sindh government. Former Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Ch Manzoor, Faisal Mir, Imtiaz Alam, Abid Saqi, IA Rehman, Nighat Dad, Ammar Ali Jan, Farooq Tariq, Jalila Haider, Ali Usman Qasmi and several others from leftist movement were also present in the meeting.