Bilawal terms MQM founder a political ‘reality'

Seeks JUI-F support on opposition’s Panama Papers inquiry bill

ISLAMABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM’s) chief Altaf Hussain is a reality whose political presence can still be felt in Karachi, Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Friday.

He was addressing media persons after holding a meeting with the chief of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Maulana Fazlur Rehman.



Denying ever having called Altaf Hussain a ‘traitor’, he said he believed “uncle Altaf is a political reality whose presence can still be felt in Karachi”.

Referring to a statement by the PTI chief, Bilawal said that his paternal grandfather, mother and uncle had all fallen victim to the same formula. A day ago, PTI chairman Imran Khan had urged PPP leaders to replicate MQM’s minus-one formula, subtracting Asif Ali Zardari from the political domain.

“What more could I say about ‘minus-one’ … the next time, they (will) talk about eliminating me (from the political scene),” said Bilawal Bhutto. Answering a question, Bilawal said that he had not called the elected prime minister a traitor, adding that he had just called friends of (Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi) traitors.



According to the PPP leader, the PML-N had ruined the national unity which he believed should not have happened, while referring to the joint session where PPP and PML-N lawmakers exchanged harsh words. During the meeting with Maulana Fazlur Rehman, which lasted over two hours, the PPP chief asked the Maulana, a PML-N ally, to support the bill presented by PPP in Parliament on Panama Papers.

The two leaders also discussed the domestic political situation as well as the Kashmir issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2016.