Govt will have to go by year end, says Bilawal

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Monday that the ‘selected government’ will have to step down before the end of the year.

Talking to media persons after visiting his father, former president Asif Ali Zardari outside Adiala Jail, the PPP chairman said his party is lending political and moral support to Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Bilawal said that if the options continued to shrink then his party would have no option other than to take an extreme step such as to hold protest in Islamabad.

While referring to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s earlier statement about giving food and container to demonstrators, Bilawal said that now Maulana Fazlur Rehman is going to march and the prime minister should fulfil his words.

Bilawal said the PPP's policy has been consistent from the first day about sit-ins. He said the PPP believes that if governments are sent home by the dharna politics, then the system will be harmed. However, he said, if the government, state, democratic rights, economic rights and human rights are constantly attacked then he will be compelled to not only engage in a long march or protests, but also to have a sit-in at Islamabad.

The PPP chairman said all democratic leadership is on the same page that the selected government must be sent home and a pro-people government must be established which will work together for the poor people of the country. To a question, Bilawal said he did not think that the military leadership has given any political statement or has sided with any kind of a political party. “This must be propaganda. How can this happen. This Army is Pakistan’s Army. This is not only my Army but every Pakistani’s Army and everyone will defend it,” he said, adding that it’s not only the PTI’s Army that its leader will side with it. “I think that these are incorrect statements and have not even been said. It cannot happen that such an institution of ours gives a political statement,” he said.

To another question, he said there is no difference between the Musharraf government and Imran Khan government as it is the same, it was selected then and is selected now and the dream at Musharraf’s time was the same too which was to imprison all democratic leadership of the country.

In fact, he said, Imran Khan presented the same formula that General Musharraf had for Kashmir and all that is happening in front of us today. “This is the same old cabinet, the same people are with Imran Khan and the same harm is being done to our economy, state, politics and media which Musharraf caused is what Imran’s doing,” he said.

To another question, Bilawal said Pakistan should play its cards very carefully.

“We should maintain a consistent policy that we will not facilitate or mainstream any non-state actors under any circumstance. We will not become their facilitators,” he said. He said the PPP has had a consistent policy for the past 11 years. “The National Action Plan must be implemented in letter and spirit for our future. We will have to eradicate extremist mindset from our country,” he said.

Bilawal said he has met with the JUI-F, PML-N and ANP leader and they are in contact with other parties as well. “We have also called a party meeting and PPP’s consistent view since day one which remained the same in the APC which is democracy,” he said. Bilawal said afar as Asif Zardari’s health is concerned, not only him, the government and NAB’s own doctors and everyone is saying that he is not well. “Surely, his health is not in the best state but his determination is still high. He is brave today and was so yesterday and is ready to combat any situation,” he said.

He questioned is this the state that supposedly replicates that of Madina where the rights of a former president and a normal citizen should be the same. He said a prisoner has no facility of medical treatment in the PM’s state of Madina.