PPP to make alliance of liberal parties for next polls: Bilawal

Khursheed says Nawaz may announce general elections in May, June

LAHORE: Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that they will make an alliance of liberal parties to contest the next general elections.

Addressing a gathering of party workers from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa at the Bilawal House, Lahore, on Saturday, the PPP chairman claimed that with the support of people, he will be the next prime minister of Pakistan after the 2018 elections. He said his party would also have chief ministers in all the four provinces of the country.

Bilawal reiterated the demand for replacement of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan with some ‘capable’ figure. He once again warned of raising ‘Go Nawaz Go’ slogans all across the country if his party’s four demands were not met by December 27.

Bilawal claimed that politics were like performing a sacred act for the PPP, and it would not let it get polluted by the GT Road politics, done by Takht-e-Lahore. On the occasion, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah claimed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could announce holding of next general elections in May or June.

He confirmed that the party chairman would contest the by-election from Larkana.

Meanwhile, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s decision to contest the by-polls and become a parliamentarian has charged the party workers. However, no final decision has yet been made from which National Assembly constituency he would contest the polls. Sources said Bilawal may contest the by-polls from NA-204 or NA-207, both falling in Larkana district. From NA-204, former law minister Sindh Ayaz Soomro is the sitting MNA, while from NA-207, Faryal Talpur, Bilawal’s aunt, had won the seat in the last general elections.

Bilawal is likely to make a final announcement in this regard in the coming days. NA-204 is the seat from where Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Nusrat Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto had contested in different elections. This constituency consists of Larkana city, tehsil Larkana and Baqrani. In 2013, MNA Ayaz Soomro had defeated Ghinwa Bhutto, head of the PPP-SB, Moazzam Abbasi, a member of the Safdar Abbasi group, as well the PML-F candidate.

Talking to The News, Ayaz Soomro said it would be a matter of immense pride for him if the party chairman announced to contest the by-polls from his constituency.

The NA-207 is another constituency from where Bilawal could contest. This constituency consists of Naudero, Rattodero, Qabo Saeed Khan, Shahdad Kot, etc. Naudero is the hometown of party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. From this seat, Benazir Bhutto was to contest the 2008 polls. But due to her assassination in Rawalpindi, the polls were postponed and in February 2008, Faryal Talpur, sister of former president Asif Ali Zardari, won this seat.

Some of the party loyalists want Bilawal to contest the by-polls from Tharparkar, the drought-hit district of Sindh where the party won the major chunk of seats in the recent local government elections as well as the last general elections.

Gayan Chand, a PPP senator representing the Dalit community, told The News that it would be a matter of pride for all of them if Benazir’s son contested by-polls from their city.