Imran Khan should not use army as political prop: Bilawal

KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said they will soon get rid of the present ineligible and incompetent government to bring a democratic dispensation to resolve the issues of masses.

“The country cannot bear your burden anymore. The countdown of this government has already been started as now is the time for Prime Minister Imran Khan to get worried,” said the PPP chairman while speaking at a press conference at the Bilawal House on Friday. He was accompanied by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and provincial cabinet members.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the prime minister should not unduly implicate the army in his statements on political issues as the army did not belong to any political party.

He said the army was not tasked with monitoring corruption in the country and other national institutions were there for the purpose. He said the government of PTI had visibly become upset due to the protest drive launched by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

The PPP chairman said the government and all its facilitators have become worried after the launch of the protest drive by the opposition parties as the fascist regime could not continue any longer.

He said the democratic dispensation and peoples’ government has to be revived in the country. He said the federal constitutional system of the country has been harmed much due to the act of making an ex-cricketer the prime minister of the country, who is incapable of running the country.

Bilawal said the people in the country have already been pushed to the wall as every sector of the society and economy has been harmed due to the incompetence of the present government. He said the provinces were denied their due share in the NFC Award that caused hampering their development and progress. He said the people would not tolerate the oppressive regime of PM Imran Khan.

The PPP chairman said the electricity prices were increased by the federal government to the sheer disadvantage of the masses while natural gas supply was also denied to the people of Sindh. He said Parliament has been used as a rubber stamp by the government and the opposition parties have been denied the chance to raise their voices during legislation. He said the opposition in accordance with the decision taken in their All Parties’ Conference (APC) had the option to move a no-confidence motion (in the National Assembly) or resign from Parliament.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said he would not hesitate going to the prison in their drive against the government. He said the attitude of the present rulers against their political opponents was undemocratic. He said the government has been doing politics of vengeance against its opponents as one such instance was the case of treason lodged against the prime minister of Azad Kashmir.

The PPP chairman also demanded the unconstitutional presidential ordinance promulgated to establish the Pakistan Islands’ Development Authority (PIDA) should be withdrawn immediately. The PPP chairman said the annexation of any piece of the provincial land was completely unconstitutional, saying the government had shaken the entire Federation due to the formation of PIDA.

He said they would forcefully resist the move of the Federation to occupy the islands of Sindh and Balochistan, adding that after these islands, the Federation could occupy the entire coastal belt and other towns of the province like Badin, Khairpur, and Umerkot.

Bilawal said the Transparency International had declared the PTI’s government was the most corrupt regime in the country, recalling the past statements of PM Imran Khan, when he told the people that there was a price-hike, whenever the prime minister was corrupt. He said there was no accountability of the PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen, assets of the sister of the PM, Abraaj Group’s handling of K-Electric, and Peshawar Metro Bus Project.

The PPP chairman demanded the upcoming elections in Gilgit-Baltistan should be conducted in a fair and transparent manner as the people of the region wanted a democratic and constitutional government for them. Bilawal said he would sit in Islamabad along with the people of Gilgit-Baltistan, if there was any rigging or misconduct in the polls. He said they would not tolerate any illegal and unconstitutional act in the upcoming polls in GB.

The PPP chairman also demanded immediate release of the political prisoners in the country, including Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif and PPP leader Syed Khursheed Shah.