Present govt is extreme form of Zia’s era: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

KARACHI: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari lashed out at the government on Sunday — observed by the party as ‘Black Day’ — for putting a chokehold on provincial autonomy, Geo News reported.

The PPP chairman in his video message said that true democracy in the country is "still in its infancy".

Terming July 5, 1977 as the "darkest day in the history of Pakistan", Bilawal said that on this day, the Constitution was suspended, democracy tossed aside and the elected prime minister, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, removed.

That day, then army chief General Zia-ul-Haq had imposed a martial law across the country, overthrowing the elected government of Bhutto.

Zia promised to hold elections within three months of seizing power. However, that promise came true several years later and after Bhutto was hanged. In a message, Bilawal said that the PPP will continue to make sacrifices to uphold the Constitution and will stand by the principles of democracy.

His remarks come on the back of the PTI's push for a review of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution which grants provinces greater administrative and fiscal authority and which was forged through a consensus during the PPP era.