PPP not to give govt NRO on Kulbhushan, says Bilawal

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Thursday said his party will not support the government’s legislation that was being brought to facilitate the RAW agent Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav.

Talking to the media at the Parliament House, he said the government brought the bill in the darkness of night for an individual, but he did not take advantage of this bill.

“Now, they are bringing this bill to the assembly and we will oppose it because we were not taken into confidence,” he said.

The PPP chairman said the PPP will not become a party to facilitating Kulbhushan Jadhav.

“If Imran Khan wants to facilitate Jadhav, he can do so, but we will not support it,” he said.

Bilawal said the PPP didn’t trust Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement on airbases to the US, as he was used to taking U-turns.

“We do not trust the prime minister because he takes U-turns and we are concerned that he might take a U-turn on this as well,” he said.

He said as for giving airbases to the United States, it was up to the government and he hoped that the decisions would be in the interest of Pakistan.

Replying to yet another question about Afghanistan, Bilawal said he had a point in his budget speech about it because Pakistan had been dealing with this situation since1980.

“Whatever happens in Afghanistan will impact the entire region and the world. We will have to face the consequences for decades for the decisions we make about Afghanistan now. This is why the PPP demanded on the floor of the House that the ministries and institutions involved in negotiations should bring the negotiation either through in-camera or on record. The PPP has a viewpoint and it should be heard.”

“We will hear them out with an open mind and heart, but the way our government and international powers are handling the situation is not making things easy for Pakistan and Afghanistan and our coming generations and we have to address it,” he said.

To a question about the PMLN President Shehbaz Sharif’s proposed APC, he said the PPP was ready to cooperate with the opposition leader on every effort to unite the opposition.

He said the people in the government from my province were more passionate in their speeches because the PPP had defeated them badly in their cities. “They are not able to tolerate their defeat,” he said.

He said the PTI used to say that Karachi was their city.

“We brought them down from the first to the sixth position, as the PPP jiyalas badly defeated them in Matli, Badin. They will remember it for their whole life,” he said.

He said they should take out their frustration on their own Prime Minister Imran Khan who did not care for them.

“Hence, they lost from Badin to Karachi to Kashmir and I will ask the PPP jiyalas to not adopt their language and attitude and work coolly and solve peoples’ problems,” he said.

Answering a question about Manzoor Wattoo, Bilawal said Wattoo said that he’d never left the PPP.

Responding to a question about shortage of gas in Sindh, he said the energy sector crisis which was looming on Pakistan will have to be borne by the common people.

He said it was a very unfortunate situation, as it was avoidable but because of the failure of the government, the common people will have to suffer.

He said the PPP always fought for its rights and he thought that the production orders of every member should be issued for the budget session.

“No one can be stopped from representing their constituency,” he added.

He said owing to the continued incarceration of Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, the people of Sukkur were deprived of their representation.

He said if the speaker did not fulfil his responsibility, then he’s sending a message that the members will not be able to exercise their right, be it stopping the budget or casting their vote for the no-confidence motion.

“This is a very disputed and anti-people budget. If the House is not complete and there is no representation of Waziristan and Sukkur, then the entire budget process is illegal,” he said.

He said the speaker should take note of the decision of Islamabad High Court into account.

“The opposition leader has sent in writing to the speaker for the production order of Khursheed Shah. I have also sent a letter to the speaker today,” he added.

Regarding the unfortunate death of Usman Kakar, Bilawal Bhutto said they had great respect for Usman Kakar.

“He was an honourable colleague; we will miss him in the Parliament. We tried our best but unfortunately, we lost him. We will do according to the demands of his family and his party,” he said, adding that the government should also address those demands.

Reply to a question with regard to the Kashmir elections, Bilawal said he was starting the campaign from tomorrow.

To another question regarding political activities of the PPP in the Punjab, he said not only the Punjab, but in the entire Pakistan the situation for PPP was going to improve.