Maulana Fazlur Rehman allied with establishment to contest Larkana by-polls: Bilawal

SUKKUR: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Friday called on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to act as a free, independent institution and ensure that fair elections were held not only in the Punjab, but also across the country.

Talking to the media at the Jakhrani House in Jacobabad, he said, "If this is ensured, I am confident our Jacobabad candidate contesting for the National Assembly seat will be declared a winner the next day."

He said the government had "left the people rudderless" and the country was witnessing one of the worst hits to the economy. "And the reason for this is Imran Khan and his government who have drowned us in a tsunami of inflation even before entering into a deal with the IMF (International Monetary Inflation)."

Bilawal said the country was witnessing historic unemployment and the economic growth rate had "never been so low". "Two finance ministers have been changed but the policy remains the same: to bring misery to the people and relief to the rich," the PPP chairman said.

He said the rates of electricity, gas bills and food items were on the rise, as were prices of petrol, which had led to everything becoming expensive and out of the reach of the common man.

"We have seen they are handing our government over to the IMF. And the illegal ordinance brought for the State Bank will leave it unanswerable to the Constitution or law of Pakistan [...] it will only dance to the IMF's tunes. And if this happens, it will be a historic attack on the economic sovereignty of Pakistan," Bilawal said.

"We will not only challenge this ordinance in the parliament, but we also believe it to be so illegal, we will approach the court." "The government is using every tactic with which it can impose its policies [...] now we have heard it is not only the decision to make the State Bank independent, they wish to bring about other economic decisions through ordinances which will be an attack on the parliament," Bilawal said.

He said only the National Assembly had the power to pass the money bill. "We will not allow Pakistan to be at the mercy of this PTI-IMF government," Bilawal said, adding, "We will not allow them such a free hand that they do whatever they please at the economic level and no one challenges their actions."

Bilawal said the government had put the country in a precarious position with a dwindling economy on the one hand and a pandemic to conquer on the other. "We are wholly unprepared to combat the third wave that we are witnessing because our federal government is stubbornly refusing to procure vaccines for all Pakistanis," said the PPP chairman.

He said Pakistan was lagging behind the most in terms of vaccinations, counting Bangladesh and India to be the countries doing better than ours. "Even war-torn Afghanistan has a better economic growth rate. The war-torn Afghanistan has a lower inflation rate," he said, calling it an "embarrassing truth".

He said there was no reason for Pakistan's economy to rank behind these countries. "The only reason is that a puppet has been imposed on us who has no political, economic or historical acumen and is not capable of governing Pakistan," he said.

Bilawal was asked to comment on Shaukat Tareen's remarks in which he blamed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for the economy's state. He said the PPP has had a "consistent policy" regarding the bureau, whereas other parties had changed their narrative to suit their interests over time.

"The PPP has been saying only one thing: NAB's law is a black law. It was made by a dictator. It was made for political engineering [...] to threaten people's representatives who are loyal to their parties," Bilawal said. He said PPP President Asif Ali Zardari had once said, "Economy and NAB cannot go hand in hand". "And now everyone acknowledges this," he added.

Speaking about the recent tensions between the PPP and the PML-N, Bilawal said his party will soon convene a meeting to discuss the matter. He said many people from the party had advised him that history had shown the two parties did not get along and it would be a tough nut to crack.

"It has been my effort, however, over the last three years, to work together with all parties for the benefit of democracy. I will put forth the same point in the CEC meeting. We do not want this government to benefit from any infighting among the opposition parties," Bilawal said.

He said defeating the government for the first time in the last three years was a "great victory" of the PDM. "And there can be no greater defeat than the prime minister losing in his own constituency," the PPP chairman said, referring to Yusuf Raza Gilani winning the Islamabad Senate seat.

According to a private TV channel, Bilawal claimed that the JUI-F sided with the establishment and opposed the PPP in 2019 Larkana by-election but despite that they accepted Fazl as leader of the PDM.

The PPP had been a part of the PDM against PM Imran Khan's government just a few weeks ago. Rifts emerged in the alliance after the PPP opposed the PML-N and JUI-F’s suggestion to resign en masse from the national and provincial assemblies. The PML-N and PPP leaders publicly criticized each other after Yusuf Raza Gilani became the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.

Bilawal said his party was ready to resolve the differences with other opposition parties. “We have great relations with Maryam Sharif,” the PPP chairman said. He suggested his “friends” in the PDM to take decisions after careful consideration.

“The Pakistan People’s Party has also summoned a meeting of the CEC and we will make our decisions. Allies need to look at the larger goal and resolve minor differences among themselves,” he added.

He wished Fazl as well as Maryam Nawaz a speedy recovery. Bilawal said he did not wish to comment on his ties with Maryam — which he insisted are still "good" — lest some remark of his affects the situation.

Bilawal said he did not think Fazlur Rehman was annoyed with anyone, or that he would show preference to one party over the other.