First time a govt has locked down its Capital: Bilawal

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Tuesday said the government itself has locked down and closed Islamabad and this has happened first time that a government is locking down its capital.

“Democratic protest is the right of every party and this is in our Constitution, the Supreme Court has said the same and Imran Khan has himself benefitted by this right and on the assembly floor that we should come, protest, stage dharna, and he will send container for us, food for us so he should do it now,” Bilawal said while talking to media persons outside the Accountability Court Islamabad.

Bilawal said Prime Minister Imran Khan should stand by his words. “U-turn cannot be taken on everything like this and we hope that Khan Sahib will understand that the government should play its political role in democracy,” he said.

He termed the prime minister responsible for all crisis and said that he believed that if they get him to resign, then all these problems would be solved. Bilawal said the government was seemingly afraid of Azadi March. He said no prime minister has been as afraid as the current one. He said Imran Khan should not be afraid of every speech, rally, press conference or rally as Islamabad is not his city only, but the capital of Pakistan.

“If political parties want to come and protest, it is their right and they should be allowed,” he said.

Bilawal said Imran Khan will have to give space to politics in this democratic country otherwise “we will snatch our rights”. “This cannot go on as you yourself lock the Parliament, conduct rigged elections, pressurise the judiciary and NAB, and block all paths for democratic political parties which compels us to protest,” he said. Bilawal said Rahbar Committee of the opposition parties met because they heard that the government wants to contact them and it was decided in the meeting that peaceful protest is the opposition’s right and the government should be engaged but it should guarantee that it will facilitate the democratic right to protest instead of stopping it. To a question, Bilawal said the PPP was clear since the first day to lend its full support to Azadi March. He said the PPP office bearers are also assisting the march and welcoming it.

The PPP chairman said his party has a very consistent stance against every dictator. “We are exposing the government in the Parliament and on any forum possible and we are happy that all opposition parties are working together,” he said.

To another question, he said it was everyone's demand that a new election should be held and for the new elections, electoral reforms must be introduced because if they are conducted like the last general elections then they are of no use. Bilawal said the government want to pressurise the PPP by denying healthcare facilities to former president Asif Ali Zardari, but the PPP leadership will never succumb to this pressure.