New PM must prior to amendment: Bilawal

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Monday said a new prime minister will have to be installed before making an amendment for the Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

He said this while talking to the newsmen outside the PIMS after meeting Zardari. Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari and Aseffa Bhutto Zardari accompanied him. “We are anticipating a long order by the Supreme Court and its guidelines. I believe very clear guidelines will be given now because in the Supreme Court ruling in the 18th Amendment case, a lot of guidance was given to Parliament. We hope this judgment will also give guidance,” he said.

He said former president Asif Ali Zardari had finally agreed to file a bail application on medical grounds. “Though it was a difficult task to convince him for filinga bail, Aseffa Bhutto Zardari managed to convince him and we will file it on Tuesday with hope that we will get justice,” he said.

He said Zardari’s morale was high despite the fact that he was ill. “It is difficult for us to trust doctors. They must be skilled and capable. The treatment here is not up to the standard we want,” he added.

Asked about the PPP’s role in the extension given to the Army Chief by theSupreme Court and whether it will need an amendment to the Constitution, he said the PPP lawyers as well as others who were in different bars had the same opinion that a constitutional amendment needed to be made.

“The PPP's role will be positive and we would want a consensus to be there. However, I would also like to add that it seems our prime minister like before does not want a consensus just like he couldn’t reach the one on Kashmir, economy, democracy and governance,” he said.

Bilawal said Imran Khan’s reaction to the verdict had made it clear that he wanted to antagonise the opposition members. “We cannot expect any hope from him,” he said. He said a government that couldn’t make a notification in three months and was still not able to pass legislation after 15 months had made him think that it was very difficult for this government to create that consensus within six months.

“This will be the biggest test of Imran Khan's government and from his actions and traditions showing that he is non-serious, it seems to me that he has made a negative impact on our institutions,” he said.

Replying to another question, he said the issue of the Election Commission members had been raised in the APC of the Rahber Committee. “From that committee, we made a sub-committee and it consisted of PPP, JUI-F and PML-N. Together, everyone had agreed on three names and Shahbaz Sharif sent those to the prime minister, so I believe that absolutely that the PML-N had consulted with the opposition parties before choosing these names,” he said.

Bilawal said he had said in the National Assembly that the whole country was watching Imran Khan as he was not a party's leader only but also the prime minister of the whole country.

“Unfortunately, you all saw that this Khan is only the PTI leader and not the country's leader; he is still standing on that container which has harmed our economy and politics to the extent that even our institutions are being harmed,” he said. He said the PPP had decided to hold Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary at Liaquatbagh, Rawalpindi where she was assassinated 12 years ago.

About the foreign funding case, he said all allegations against the PPP were fake and fabricated. “Even the Election Commission knows this. We are going through a process, which has no relation to the foreign funding. If there's a foreign funding case, it is related to the PTI only and its own member.