Bilawal hopes ‘establishment would remain apolitical’

PPP chairman says talks with TTP not possible

KARACHI:

PPP Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday said that his party had hailed the establishment’s stance to remain apolitical, terming it a “good omen”, and hoped that the practice would continue.

The PPP chairman was addressing a news conference after chairing the party’s central executive committee (CEC) meeting at Bilawal House Karachi.

Last year, former army chief General (retd) Bajwa had said that he was certain that the “political quarantine of the armed forces” would bode well for the country in the long term.

“Despite some criticism and undue vilification of the armed forces through mass propaganda and meticulously crafted false narratives, the institutional resolve to remain apolitical will remain steadfast,” Bajwa had said in an interview with Gulf News.

The statement from Bajwa came amid accusations that the state institution interfered in the country’s politics, often favouring one political party or the other.
During his presser on Thursday, the PPP chairman welcomed the establishment’s decision to remain apolitical.

“Establishment has decided to not intervene in politics which is praiseworthy. The establishment’s promise to remain apolitical is a good omen,” he said.

“We also want to stop non-political people from interfering in the political affairs of the country,” he added.

“[We] hope that the establishment’s practice to remain apolitical will continue.”
Commenting on the law and order in the country, the Bhutto scion stressed that the terrorists should be treated like criminals.

He requested National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to call a national security meeting in the parliament to decide on a plan of action.

Responding to a question, Bilawal said that he was not afraid of the threat hurled by the banned TTP, and would continue to work for strengthening the Constitution.

A day earlier, the TTP had announced that it was considering taking “concrete steps” against the “leading people” of the PPP and the PML-N if both the parties “continued to be the slaves of the army”.

“We are not afraid of death and will continue to fight extremism. These terrorists and extremists have defamed my country and religion all over the world,” Bilawal said.

“We believe that terrorists and extremism are enemies of Pakistan,” he added.
He said there was not possibility of holding talks with the terrorists.

Recalling the 2014 APS tragic incident, the PPP chairman said that he would continue to call those who had martyred the innocent children as terrorists.
“[We] defeated terrorists in the past and it will happen now too.”

Bilawal said they were against hold early polls but would “openly oppose” if the general elections were not held on time.

He said PPP hated the politics of “division” and was willing to sign a “code of conduct” with all the parties to resolve the issues faced by the country through the document in the parliament.

The PPP chairman said that his party wanted to continue its working relation with the MQM-P and wanted to bring improvement in the local government system.

He said as per the commitment made with the MQM-P, Sindh governor and Karachi administrator had been appointed.

He said time would prove the “neutrality” of the MQM-P and the PSP.

Bilawal praised the incumbent government saying Premier Shehbaz Sharif and his economic team had saved the country from default and accused PTI Chairman Imran Khan for the sky-rocketing inflation in the country.

He said Pervaiz Elahi would have to seek the vote of confidence if he wanted to remain the chief minister of Punjab.