Bilawal says PPP to give tough time to AJK govt

PPP chairman says he will expose rigging in AJK polls in and outside parliament

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari slammed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for rigging and using money in the recently concluded elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and warned that his party would give a tough time to the incoming government there.

Talking to PPP’s newly-elected lawmakers for the AJK Legislative Assembly in the federal capital, Bilawal said that he would be contacting other opposition parties in the struggle against the PTI government, and expose the rigging in AJK polls inside and outside parliament.

“There has never been more rigging in the past than the AJK elections. Their minister was caught red-handed while distributing money,” Bilawal said. “A new government is being formed in the AJK on the basis of money but the PPP would not allow it run,” he added.

Bilawal said that despite the rigging, the PPP gave a tough time to PTI in the AJK and added that the party would not leave the field open for the incoming “puppet” government. He stressed need for all the opposition parties to come to the same page to give the PTI government a tough time.

Commenting on the government’s proposal to introduce the electronic voting machines (EVMs), the PPP chairman said that the party could not accept the proposal unless it was acceptable to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Read Maryam, Bilawal reject AJK poll results

Talking to the reporters after the meeting, Bilawal said that the PPP was the largest opposition party in the AJK. “We will give a tough time to the puppet government of Azad Kashmir alone and together with other parties,” he said. “We will work with the opposition to formulate a strategy.”

Replying to a question about lodging of cases against the PPP lawmakers, Bilawal referred to the newly-elected Chaudhry Yaseen. “[Such] actions against us are not new,” he said, adding Chaudhry Yaseen was attacked and it was seen on TV. Yet Chaudhry Yasin won on two seats.

“Political revenge is being taken from Chaudhry Yasin and his son as murder cases have been filed against them. We will protest strongly and we will not allow actions against our people. We will … join other parties in the protest.”

He stated that the PPP Jiyalas had been opposing the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) government in AJK for five years and the PTI's federal government for three years. “The position of the PPP is very clear … the PPP will fight this puppet government from Karachi to Kashmir.

When asked about the appointment of Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Bilawal said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had collected all the political orphans in Sindh. “We have defeated this kind of alliance before and we will defeat them again as usual.

Responding to another question, he said that Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif engaged with the PPP in a good manner. He stressed that the opposition could use the democratic method of no-confidence to overthrow the Punjab government first and then Imran's government.