Bilawal claims PTI threatened him with martial law on no-trust eve

PPP chairman warns of bloodshed if parties do not agree to rules of the game

ISLAMABAD:

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Thursday the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had threatened him to either accept fresh election in the country or there would be martial law, insisting that the former ruling party was still pursuing the same strategy.

Bilawal, also the Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), told the National Assembly that the threat of martial law was conveyed to him via a federal minister through one of his associates on the night before the vote on the no-confidence motion.

“A night before the no-confidence, I was threatened that either we agree to fresh elections or there would be a martial law,” he said, adding that the PTI’s strategy was that the no-confidence failed but they could not succeed.

He said that the strategy of former prime minister Imran Khan and the PTI was still the same – elections without key reforms or to push the country towards crisis. Imran “either wants new elections immediately or wishes to create a situation that paves the way for a third force”, he added.

Contrary to that, he said, the PPP’s policy was that the reforms first and elections later. “Our demand has been the same in the past and it is the same today,” he said. “We have to immediately repeal the electoral laws that meant to restrict the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP),” he added.

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Bilawal warned that the next general elections could be bloody if the political parties did not reach a consensus on some sort of “basic code of conduct” for the polling in light of the increasing polarisation and divide in the county. He lamented that no one was ready to follow rules of the game.

In his speech, Bilawal mentioned a meeting of the top Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership in London, saying that both parties were unanimous on implementing the remaining points on the Charter of Democracy signed by Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif in 2006.

“We have to try to implement it before the next elections,” the PPP chairman said, revealing the parties were working on a new charter. “Even if it doesn’t see the light of the day there should at least be some sort of code of conduct,” he added.

He urged the political parties to agree on a basic code of conduct and give the institutions the space so that they could conduct themselves in a nonpartisan, democratic and constitutional manner. “What would be left if there is no trust in democracy and democratic processes,” he said.

Bilawal lashed out at former premier Imran Khan and other PTI leaders for “abrogating” the Constitution and attacking democracy. He demanded an investigation into the unconstitutional and undemocratic events in the recent past.

“Imran Khan thinks he is a sacred cow. Imran attacks institutions and the judiciary, but he should be asked how and why he harmed Pakistan at the international level for the sake of his own politics. We have to stop this! The court and parliament have to play their role,” he said.

About the ruling coalition Bilawal said that various political parties were jointly running this government. “Such situations are created when a country faced severe crises. In cases of war or emergency, political parties put aside their differences for the sake of the national interest,” he said.

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“We are in a very unique situation, there is a crisis on every front,” Bilawal said, adding that the situation was even worse than what had been assumed. “The situation in Pakistan is at a critical point; there should be no two views about it.”

He accused former prime minister Imran of making every institution controversial. “The harm that Imran and his former government have caused to the Constitution, democracy and institutions is before everyone,” he added.

The “selected” person abrogated the Constitution and attacked democracy. The former prime minister, the former deputy speaker and the president have been abrogating the Constitution and refusing to follow it since April 3.

“How could this National Assembly, the parliament ignore such an attack? I am saying that we should take the attack seriously, make a commission to investigate, who was involved in this unconstitutional and undemocratic attack,” Bilawal said.

“It is the position of the [Pakistan] Peoples Party that has been presented before this united government that this house must form a high-level parliamentary commission or committee to investigate the abrogation of the Constitution,” he added.

Coming back to former deputy speaker Qasim Suri’s ruling on April 3, rejecting the no-trust motion against Imran under Article 5 of the Constitution, the PPP chairman that the Supreme Court in its decision had clearly termed it unconstitutional.

“The people of Pakistan expect accountability of the former government for abrogating the Constitution in a bid to escape a democratic process,” Bilawal said, adding that “if we wanted the democracy to progress then we will have to investigate these events”.

“It will be in light of this investigation that we will move forward on this front,” he said. “Since this attack was ignored,” he continued, “the former prime minister thinks that he is a sacred cow and is roaming in the country, while making attacks that are against the national interest and our national standing.”

The foreign minister observed that political instability was harming the economy. Imran, he said, was “imposed on the country for four years and during his tenure he ruined the economy, isolated Pakistan internationally, attacked the Constitution and democracy as well as the rights of the provinces”.

“Till today, be it Cholistan, Sindh or Balochistan, the country is facing a water crisis,” he said. According to Transparency International, corruption in the last four years surpassed all records, he continued. There were irregularities in every ministry, he added.

The wheat crisis was first caused by the geopolitical situation. but now Pakistan, this region, and the whole world would have to face further difficulties due to the geopolitical situation owing to the Ukraine conflict.

Even before, food security was a dire problem because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Resolution on IIOJK

The National Assembly also unanimously passed a resolution to denounce the latest attempt at demographic engineering in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), through the ‘delimitation commission’ constituted in March 2020.

The resolution expressed gave concern over the series of illegal measures taken by the Indian occupation forces to change the demographics of the territory, in violation of international law, “particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention and relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC),” the draft read.

The resolution stated that the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), “through delimitation is making attempts to further its illegal actions of August 5, 2019, and subsequent measures all of which have been categorically rejected by the Kashmiri people and Pakistan.”