Bilawal asks Imran to renegotiate IMF deal

LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan renegotiate the deal with International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the larger interest of the nation.

He was addressing a gathering of left-wing activists, society members, young doctors and journalists at the residence of party stalwart Dr Khalid Javaid Jan and later talking to the media on Tuesday. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan had claimed before the polls that he would commit suicide but would not go to the IMF. He said PPP never wanted the PM to commit suicide but he must renegotiate the deal as, the current agreement had multiplied troubles of the Pakistani nation.

The PPP chairman said that in politics, compromises had to be made. But those should not be made over the ideology and principles, he added.

Bilawal said it was not possible to achieve a goal with an inflexible approach, as sometimes one has to take a step back to move ahead. However, the PPP chairman, at the same time, grilled the PTI government for taking U-turns over different issues, saying that People’s Party never believed in taking U-turns. He said Imran Khan had no concern over corruption and his sole interest was in protecting his role as the puppet prime minister. Bilawal claimed that even the special assistant on information had no idea what was written in the IMF deal. The PPP chairman said the economy was the major challenge confronting Pakistan today. He said civil society had raised voice for the poor and suppressed people, who had even lost their jobs in the present government due to the PTI-IMF deal and stated that the PPP would join hands with it to raise voice for the people of Pakistan.

Bilawal said that it was the People’s Party that also raised voice in the era of PML-N over the issue of supremacy of Parliament.

Criticising the PTI government, he said that it was unfortunate that it had turned against the NGOs [non-governmental organisations] and the civil society, adding that the PPP extended complete support to the ‘Aurat March” (woman march).

He said the PPP believed in democratic norms and instead of targeting opponents, it had devised a strategy to deal with the criticism done against it. But the PTI government was taking all steps aimed at suppressing the voice of critics.

He said civil society of Pakistan had always stood firm against the dictatorial regimes and it was unfortunate that today, civil society and NGOs were facing curbs at the hands of the incumbent government.

He said that the government was trying to bring everything under its control and predicted that the prime minister would soon realise that it was not the right path that he had adopted.

To a question, he said if there existed the hideouts of terrorists in the country, Pakistan should itself take action against them.

Commenting on the US-Taliban deal, he said he believed that any agreement in that regard should be aimed at fostering peace in Afghanistan and benefiting Afghans.

He said the issue of missing persons was not being handled in a proper way and added that the PPP would continue to play its role in that regard.

While responding to a question about Asif Ali Zardari, he said the former president was not provided medical facilities in the prison due to which his health deteriorated. However, he said now his health was improving.

To a query about those who quit the PPP and join the PTI, Bilawal said workers did not want them back in the party fold but stated that the issue could be discussed on case-to-case basis.