Home Latest News PPP Long March Will Succeed if Establishment Remains Neutral: Bilawal

PPP Long March Will Succeed if Establishment Remains Neutral: Bilawal

by Staff Report

File photo. Rizwan Tabassum—AFP

Party chairman claims PPP has no interest in ties with the establishment and wants to oust P.M. Imran Khan through constitutional means

Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday predicted that his party’s upcoming long march on Islamabad, scheduled for Feb. 27, will succeed if the country’s security establishment remains neutral.

Speaking with journalists in Lahore, he rubbished media reports of the PPP boosting its ties with the establishment, claiming that his party has never pursued this. “We have never been interested in [forging relations] with the establishment, and we never will be,” he said, adding that the entire nation wanted to be rid of the “selected” government and free and fair elections were the only solution to the crises plaguing Pakistan.

Stressing that the PPP had “always” acted for parliamentary supremacy and democracy, he said it did not believe in “siege politics” and would opt for a no-confidence motion to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan. “We will not hold prolonged sit-ins and attack the institutions; we will conduct political business in the Parliament. If we wish to remove the government, then we will do it in line with the Constitution,” he added.

The PPP chairman warned that if opposition parties took any “extreme” step against the PTI-led government, it could provoke a crisis-like situation. “In our agreement with the [opposition alliance] PDM, a no-confidence motion was the last option,” he recalled. Referring to a recent statement of senior Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Ayaz Sadiq, in which he had claimed to have the support of 34 PTI members in the National Assembly, Bhutto-Zardari said it should prove it by tabling a no-confidence motion against the prime minister.

To a question, Bhutto-Zardari said he had complete confidence in Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Yousaf Raza Gillani. “Ever since the long march was announced, some elements have been trying to tarnish our [PPP] image,” he claimed. “The participation of millions of people in the long march will show the true face of Imran’s popularity,” he said, referring to the prime minister. “The government, out of fear of the long march, has resorted to false propaganda against the PPP and its public representatives but we are not afraid of it and will fight off conspiracies with full force,” he added.

Earlier this week, Gilani announced he had forwarded his resignation as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate to the PPP leadership after the government managed to pass the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill due to the absence of eight opposition senators. Bhutto-Zardari has already announced that this resignation has been rejected and Gilani would continue to serve as the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.

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