Imran to face defeat if institutions stay neutral: Bilawal

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Saturday his party believed in the power of people, and demanded that Prime Minister Imran Khan's facilitators should remain neutral, and no institution should go beyond its mandate.

Addressing the media at Bilawal House in Karachi, he said: “We demand that all institutions remain neutral. We believe if the establishment remains neutral, Imran Khan will be defeated in the no-confidence motion. We hope that all institutions will remain neutral as per the Constitution.”

The PPP chairman said his party was ready to back PMLN's candidate for the prime minister's slot if the opposition was able to oust the incumbent government.

He said in democracy, anyone having the majority can decide who will be the next prime minister.

"The PMLN clearly has the majority; PPP and other opposition parties are ready to sacrifice the prime minister's seat for them," he said, stressing the major stakeholder should announce its candidate for the office.

"We plan on not repeating the mistakes we did in the past," he added.

He said there would be no need for protests and a no-confidence motion if Imran Khan himself resigns. He said after Khan’s removal, the interim setup would have limited responsibilities, which include carrying out electoral reforms and holding transparent elections.

“The provinces are being deprived of the NFC award,” he alleged. Criticising the government, the PPP chairman said, “We have been raising our voice against PTIMF [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and International Monetary Fund] from day one. The PTIMF is against the interests of Pakistan,” he said.

Bilawal said it was the incompetence and failure of the government that it reached an agreement with the IMF which was against the people. He said “we want Pakistan to come out of the deal and make a new deal which is in the interest of the country.” Bilawal said: "This government is undemocratic, but we have taken up democratic arms against it. The long march is a democratic attack on the undemocratic government,” he added.

Bilawal said senior PPP leader Taj Haider had prepared a comprehensive report on the 2018 elections, in which it had been pointed out how the election process was compromised and what role was played by which institution. “We want the Election Commission to investigate the matter on its own before releasing the report to the public. If the Election Commission would not address the PPP concerns, the report would have to be brought before other institutions and the public.”

“I don’t want the 2018 election to be replayed,” he said. “Imran Khan wants to rig the election, that’s why he’s using tactics such as the PECA ordinance,” he alleged.

Bilawal also advised PTI's allies, especially the MQMP, to join hands with the anti-government movement as the PPP is all set to begin its "awami march" from Karachi to Islamabad.

The PPP chairman said the long march would be the longest one in the history of the country covering more than 2,000 kilometres distance. The long march starting from Karachi would pass through 37 cities and reach Islamabad. We will reach Lahore from Sahiwal, Pattoki on March 5, and reach Gujranwala on March 6, the last phase of the march will start from March 8.

Separately, talking to the media along with head of the Balochistan National Party Mengal (BNPM) Sardar Akhter Jan Mengal in Lahore, opposition leader in the National Assembly and PMLN President Shehbaz Sharif said there was complete consensus among all opposition parties on bringing a no-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan. He said they were fully concentrating on it and no-confidence motion would be introduced in the assembly with complete preparations.

However, he added he could not give a final date for the no-confidence motion. He said all the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) components as well as the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) agreed on the agenda of no-confidence move against Imran. He said all were playing their role in this regard and the media would be updated about every development.

The BNPM chief said all likeminded parties had completed their homework over the no-confidence issue. He said he had become fed up with even word tabdeeli [change] due to anti-people policies of the PTI government. He said he discussed with Shehbaz Sharif the issues related to Balochistan. He said the provinces had the right on their resources and their just demands must be fulfilled.

To a question, he said the greatest issue concerning Balochistan was related to the missing persons and it must be addressed. He said that the path of dialogue was adopted worldwide for solution to conflicts and stressed the need for holding talks for addressing the issues of Balochistan.