Bilawal to join Shehbaz-led cabinet today

PPP chairman says first electoral reforms, then general elections

 

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is scheduled to take oath as a federal minister on Wednesday (today), following approval of the party’s top decision-making body.

Speaking at a news conference after the PPP Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting on Tuesday, the scion of the Bhutto family said that big challenges lied ahead but assured that the incumbent government would overcome them.

لائیو: پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کی سینٹرل ایگزیکٹو کمیٹی کے ہائبرڈ اجلاس کے بعد ہونے والی میڈیا بریفنگ https://t.co/6O5YVtBZ5o

— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) April 26, 2022

“I will reach Islamabad tomorrow (today) and take oath [as federal minister],” Bilawal, who has been tipped as the country’s next foreign minister, told reporters. After the oath-taking, he said, he “will be part of the Shehbaz Sharif government”.

At the start of the news conference, Bilawal condemned the terrorist attack on Chinese teachers in Karachi, terming the incident at the Karachi University “an attack on national security”. However, he stressed that the country’s security agencies had the capability to prevent such attacks.

“The CEC has condemned terrorism in Karachi. The PPP will raise its voice against terrorism across the country,” he said. “There are problems all over the country. There are more problems for the youth in Balochistan. Our Baloch brothers can get their rights through a peaceful struggle. We know their rights.”

On the political situation, Bilawal said, the CEC congratulated the nation on abolition of a “selected system in the country” through democratic process of the vote of no confidence. He added that the journey that had begun would culminate at its destination.

“For the first time in the history of Pakistan, a democratic no-confidence motion has succeeded. We have achieved the success but we cannot forget the unconstitutional moves. If the violation of the Constitution is forgotten, there will be more violations,” he said.

“The speaker and the deputy speaker are involved in the violation of the Constitution. The attack on the Constitution should be investigated. I am going to Islamabad with the decision of this CEC meeting,” the PPP chairman added.

Bilawal stressed that they achieved their goals democratically, but added that there were challenges ahead. “The way Shehbaz Sharif spoke in his first speech, it gave the impression that a sober and political person has become the prime minister,” he added.

“Every problem can be solved in a democratic way. We will all get the country out of the problems. Working together will lead us to better results and success,” Bilawal said, announcing that the government would introduce electoral reforms before calling the next general elections.

Bilawal also criticised former prime minister Imran Khan, saying that he was running a “why I was not saved” campaign. He added that the state institutions were moving towards their constitutional roles and the PPP stood by them. “We salute all the institutions that have become neutral,” he said.

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He also said that Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had made a mistake by leaving parliament. He advised Imran to return to parliament and contest in a democratic manner, stressing that a civil war was not the answer to any problem.

The PPP chief said that he met Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Quaid Nawaz Sharif in London. He dispelled all the rumours about his meeting, saying that they talked about the Charter of Democracy – the document signed by Nawaz and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2006.

“We all want fair and transparent elections, so we have to introduce electoral reforms,” Bilawal said. “We will all work together with political parties on electoral reforms. First, it was stated that accountability first, then election, we say that reforms first, then the elections.”

To a question about the PPP’s agreement with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) signed before the no-confidence motion in Islamabad, Bilawal said that the agreement would be implemented. He added that the local government system in Sindh needed improvement.

When asked about any plans for the impeachment of President Arif Alvi, the PPP chairman replied that the impeachment of the president would be a difficult decision because at present the ruling coalition lacked the numbers in parliament.

Earlier, the PPP CEC reposed full confidence in the leadership of Chairman Bilawal and Co-chairman Asif Zardari. The meeting received a briefing on the Charter of Democracy and discussed various matters.

The meeting, co-chaired by Bilawal and Zardari, discussed the way forward in continuing its reform agenda in parliament in order to strengthen the federation and its democratic framework. The CEC noted that the last PPP government had instituted more than 85% of the charter.

The meeting discussed at length the electoral reforms, which were “deemed an immediate priority and will be constructively pursued with transparency in more than one phase of consultation” and public input.

“In a similar vein, a new Charter of Democracy 2.0, in consultation with all stakeholders and democratic political parties to strengthen democratic fundamentals and realisation of public goals, the rule of law, and other reforms was recommended,” a resolution passed by the CEC said.

The CEC condemned the previous PTI government for its “four years of misrule where every constitutional institution was assaulted … for the sake of saving a falling edifice of the PTI’s regime, including parliament, the judiciary, the election commission, and the Constitution”.

The CEC also condemned the PTI government for putting curbs on the media and the freedom of speech and suspending fundamental rights for privileging its own political hate speech. It vowed to restore media freedoms and bring back civility and tolerance to public discourse.