Photo courtesy PPP Media Cell
PPP chairman says PTI-led government can ‘prove’ public still supports it by calling for fresh elections
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday challenged Prime Minister Imran Khan to dissolve Parliament and announce fresh elections if he believes the public continues to support him and his policies.
“[P.M.] Imran is a coward and is running away from elections,” he said at a gathering of party workers in Multan, adding that Khan knew he did not have any public support and would never take the step to dissolve his government. Noting that the PTI had already lost to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) in the first round of local government elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, he said this was “proof” that the PPP’s upcoming long march on Islamabad would succeed.
The PPP chairman said the party’s central executive committee had decided to start its long march against the “incompetent and selected” government on Feb. 27 from Karachi. He said the party had been resisting the PTI-led government since it came into power, adding that it had even resisted efforts of other opposition parties to boycott polls and parliamentary proceedings.
“The PPP stood its ground and fought against the PTI by not leaving the field empty,” he said, adding that the party had also contested the Senate elections and “defeated” the PTI. He also appreciated the Election Commission of Pakistan and the judiciary for denying the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government’s request to delay the second phase of the province’s local body elections.
Referring to a recent surge in meetings between opposition leaders and the PTI’s allied parties, Bhutto-Zardari said the PPP would campaign for a no-confidence motion to oust the incumbent government. “Some people did not stand with us on the no-confidence motion [earlier], however they are now supporting us,” he added.
The PPP chairman said it was ironic that the prime minister kept accusing former governments of corruption, but had proven to be “the most corrupt government” in Pakistan’s history by Transparency International. “Those who have accused the PPP of corruption haven’t proved it and they should be convicted,” he added.
Bhutto-Zardari also lashed out at the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2021, describing it as an “anti-national agreement” inked between the PTI and the International Monetary Fund. Commenting on the ECP’s disqualification of PTI’s Faisal Vawda, he claimed this was just the start and there would be many more ousters after the PPP started its long march later this month.