Bilawal calls for 'liberating country, constitution from oppressive regime'

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday said the country and the Constitution needed to be "liberated from the current oppressive regime”.

Addressing an All Parties Conference (APC) organised by Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) in Islamabad, he said that any voice against the current regime was being suppressed. “Those who were 'selected' in the past are now forced to raise slogans of the revolution,” he remarked.

Bilawal said that during the joint session of Parliament yesterday, Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser did not even listen to the calls of the opposition for a recount. "If we're not listened to then we’ll have to think for how much longer we can tolerate this rubber-stamp parliament," he added.

He alleged that the 19th Amendment was forced upon the political forces of the country. “The legislations in this country are not being done in a justifiable manner… and this is undermining the supremacy of the Constitution,” he added.

The PPP chairman said that both 18th Amendment and National Finance Commission (NFC) Awards were under threat and a political struggle was needed to protect these initiatives.

Hitting out at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, Bilawal said, “We're told that we live in the State of Madina but what kind of a statement this is when a woman is gang-raped on the motorway?

“There are flood-affected people all over the country. At least 2.5 million people are affected in Sindh alone. Many crops are destroyed. But there’s no one offering them any help.”

He said that the PPP government in Sindh had compensated people during the floods of 2011.

Bilawal urged the lawyers fraternity and political forces of the country to unite under one umbrella and struggle against the current regime. "All political parties must unite,” he maintained.

'Learn from mistakes and move forward'

Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif, while admitting mistakes of the past, said that “we have to take lessons from the history and move forward”.

Addressing lawyers, the PML-N president said he respects the judges but some of them even gave dictators the right to amend the Constitution. "This is something that cannot be erased from history. Now, we have to take lesson from history and move forward."

He said that there were many honourable judges but at the same time, there were also people like Arshad Malik.

The opposition leader said that his party was being politically victimised in the name of accountability which could have serious consequences. "We have already faced repercussions of such tactics in the past. I hope we don't make the same mistake again," he added.

He further said that Balochistan is Pakistan's largest province by land and naturally it needs more resources, therefore, its share was increased by 100 per cent during the PML-N tenure.

"If we have to move forward then we must address the grievances of small provinces. Only then can Pakistan become a prosperous nation."