Bilawal backs Fazl, but won’t support ‘undemocratic’ moves

Ag Agencies

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has expressed his support for Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Fazlur Rehman’s nationwide protests against the government, but said he would not support any “undemocratic” moves, Geo News reported.

“I hope that the Maulana’s long march will be successful,” said Bilawal, who was speaking to reporters after Asif Ali Zardari’s court hearing into the fake bank accounts case on Friday. While he lent his support to Rehman “at every level except for his plan to stage a sit-in”, he said he would not take any steps that could hurt the country.

He also pledged party will withdraw its support for the JUI-F if it suspects he is acting “at the behest of some other force”. Bilawal’s statement drew a strong reaction from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, with government spokeswoman Firdous Awan tweeting: “Instead of blaming institutions, he should hold the corruption of his father and paternal aunt responsible for the dwindling political fortunes.”

Bilawal’s remarks came a day after Rehman announced that he would begin his “Azadi March” towards Islamabad on October 27 with the aim of ousting the PTI government. “It was the PPP and PML-N’s [Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz] desire to do a joint political gathering or a procession but the Maulana has announced a long march. We have called a party meeting to decide how far we can go in supporting him.” The PPP chairman said he believed the federal government would try and “attack the Sindh government” in response to his party’s protests, but warned that “they will not be successful”.

The PML-N will also soon hold a meeting to discuss its strategy regarding the march, party spokeswoman Marriyum Aurangzeb said. She also denied media reports claiming that party president Shahbaz Sharif would not participate in the long march over health reasons, and dismissed those as a “lie”.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired a meeting of government and party spokespersons in Islamabad, where they deliberated upon the strategies regarding protest of opposition parties. Khan was quoted as saying that the opposition is trying to conceal its misdeeds and hamper the accountability process.

The NNI local wire service reported that the Prime Minister ordered a befitting reply to the opposition on every front, as he vowed that nobody can stop the process of accountability.