Bilawal struggles to defend dynastic politics during CNN interview

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari tried to defend the political dynasties in Pakistan by equating it with the Clinton family of the United States – and it backfired as Twitter lit up with retorts.

In an interview with CNN, Bilawal was asked by anchorperson Becky Anderson whether the criticism that Pakistani politics was plagued by dynasties was valid, Bilawal, in what many say was a faux pas, argued: “I think it would be unfair to criticise former secretary of state and presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, for being involved in politics because her husband was involved in polices.”

Interrupting the PPP chairperson, Becky said, “No, that is not a good answer, it was a really important question”.

Visibly unnerved, the Bhutto scion then struggled to retrieve the rationale he just provided for dynastic politics, stating that one could criticise nepotism “but ultimately who the people decide they want, that is what matters”.

At that point, the PPP leader veered the discussion back to Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and asserted that it was, too, heavily infested with a dynastic tinge. “In his [Imran Khan] federal and provincial representatives, he relies heavily on Pakistan’s dynastic families.”

‘Politics chose me’

Describing the logic of his decision to take over the reins of the family legacy, Bilawal, who came of age politically a few years after his mother’s death, said he ended up in politics under ‘compelling circumstances’.\

“I didn’t choose this life, it chose me.”

He recounted that his grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was hanged by a military dictator and his mother, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated by terrorists.

As the interview drew to an end, the PPP leader stated, “For whatever reason people end up doing politics, we believe in democracy”.

Twitter reacts

However, the Twitterati thought Bilawal was completely off base, pointing out that in the same breath he had just defended family legacies; he ended up criticising Khan for the same.

“How not to answer a simple question on CNN. One difficult question you’re your confidence and English skills succumb to stammering,” one user said while taking a jibe at the PPP leader.

“Well, this is embarrassing,” journalist Adeel Raja captioned the clip of the interview.

Some thought the PPP leader, who may take over as the country’s foreign minister, was ill-prepared. “

Our wannabe feudal lord Bilawal says he was forced into Pakistani politics when asked about dynastic politics. Literally, put through the shredder by CNN journalist,” said journalist Sana Jamal.

“It will be something difficult for my party to stomach”

Earlier during the interview, Bilawal was asked whether he could confirm the speculation surrounding his post as foreign minister, to which he declined to answer.

The PPP leader admitted it was “difficult” for his party, the second-largest within the coalition government, to accept him as working with their main political rival, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

“However, whatever the party decides will be in the better interest of the country.”

Moreover, the PPP leader insisted that it was imperative for the political alliance to work together for the restoration of democracy.

He stressed it was essential for all the parties which had collectively ousted Imran Khan to work together for the restoration of democracy, work towards electoral reforms and address economic issues.

‘Pakistan’s Capitol Hill moment’

Responding to the allegations made by Imran Khan that he was ousted through a US-backed conspiracy,  Bilawal compared the former prime minister’s attempts at creating “chaos” with the one witnessed last year when the supporters of former president Donald Trump stormed the Capitol Hill.

“He [Khan] came up with this fake lie of an international conspiracy led by the US to oust him, but the fact is that he is the first prime minister in the history of Pakistan to be ousted through a constitutional process,” said the PPP chairman.

Regarding Imran Khan’s growing popularity, protests and online campaigns in his favour, the PPP chairman said “fascist” leaders around the world enjoy similar cult trends.

However, he claimed the protests did not reflect the majority of the country’s population, adding Khan was stoking anti-American sentiments to play the victim card.

"...he does not have any narrative that allows him to be presented as a victim, he is relying on Pakistanis' general anti-American sentiment and trying to provoke a very dangerous situation where he has declared 70% of the parliamentarians as traitors," Bilawal said.

Bilawal warned that Khan was going down a very dangerous path, noting that Pakistan's democracy was very young as compared to the United States.