Imran runs away with wickets: Bilawal

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that Imran Khan instead of playing till the last ball had run away with the wickets. He said that the president, prime minister, NA speaker, deputy speaker and anybody involved in this act on Sunday had committed high treason.

“There is no space in our Constitution for them to dissolve the assembly, issue a notification to dissolve the assembly while we bring a vote of no-confidence against the prime minister and now Imran Khan will be dealt with according to Article 6,” he said while talking to private media on Sunday.

Bilawal said that there was no space in the Constitution for them not to hold vote of no-confidence today. “There is no space in the Constitution, rules of the National Assembly, democracy and law that allows them to run from the session today [Sunday],” he said.

The PPP chairman said, “We are recording our protest in Parliament. We have called upon the Supreme Court of Pakistan and all those institutions responsible for the protection and implementation of the constitution to do so and accept our no-confidence that is legal,” he said.

He said that it was their own decision to have Ayaz Sadiq on the panel of the chair and following the policy of the House, Ayaz Sadiq had chaired the session of the National Assembly. “When the Speaker is not present, neither is the deputy Speaker, it is the responsibility of the one nominated on the panel to conduct the session. The vote of no-confidence took place and we secured 195 votes,” he said.

He was hopeful for relief from the Supreme Court of Pakistan and said, “We hope that our judiciary will not let any unconstitutional act take place.” Responding to the questions of the panelists, the PPP chairman said when such a grave attack had been made on the Constitution, they expected the Supreme Court to correct it. He said that the prime minister had committed treason to run from the no-confidence. “We have proved that the majority is with us. We will not let Pakistan be run on the rule of the jungle,” he said.

Bilawal said the prime minister and NA Speaker were not even aware of how grave the act they had committed was. “Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, Farooq Naek, Nayyer Hussain Bukhari along with others are preparing a petition,” he said.

The PPP chairman said the opposition was ready for elections and it was not possible for the Supreme Court not to stand with them as it was bound to stand with them and defend the constitution. “We submitted a no-confidence motion against the NA Speaker too after which he could not even prorogue the session,” he said.

He said, “Our position now is that the no-confidence has been completed and Imran Khan has ceased to be the prime minister of Pakistan.” Bilawal said Imran Khan was trying to become a carbon copy of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and it was ridiculous.

He said Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto never abrogated the constitution as they were the ones who drafted it. “He did not abrogate the constitution even to save his life. He said that he would not expose national secrets even if it meant that he would lose his life. This is nationalism and patriotism,” he said.

He said the united opposition’s numbers were complete not only for the no-confidence to succeed but also for the prime minister. “The reality is that Imran Khan has lost, according to the constitution and democracy,” he said.

The PPP chairman asked whether the Pakistani people wanted to see things to take place according to the constitution or a person’s ego. “Pakistan has become a banana republic before the world today. We will not let Imran succeed in this conspiracy,” he said.

He said it was Imran’s delusion just like that of Musharraf that he would succeed after creating a law and order situation. “Justice Waqar Seth clearly wrote in his order what the punishment of traitors is,” he said.

Bilawal said the president tried to abrogate the constitution today. “As far as the foreign conspiracy is concerned, all are witness to how our efforts have always been to remove this undemocratic man,” he said.

He said long before the prime minister went to Russia, he and his father went to Shehbaz Sharif to form a consensus. “Even before that, we had our CEC meeting where it was decided to proceed with the long march and no-confidence,” he said.

He said even before that, in September 2020 when they were laying the foundation of the PDM, no-confidence was one of the points. “Are we psychic? Would we have known in September 2020 that there would be a conflict in Ukraine? Had this conspiracy claim been true, why did he wait till the last minute to reveal it? He should have given demarche to that diplomat on the very same day,” he remarked.

The PPP chairman said this was not a game of cricket as Parliament is the supreme institution. “What happened in Parliament today cannot be forgiven,” he said. He said no-confidence was the only democratic way for the transfer of power and if Parliament’s peaceful transfer of power was hindered today, a precedent could be set for the transfer of power in the Supreme Court as well. “There are other institutions in Rawalpindi that can face the same problem,” he said. He said there was no space for the Supreme Court not to support us. “We salute the Supreme Court for showing a responsible attitude even on a Sunday. We have hopes associated with it,” he said. He said the constitution had been abrogated and there had also been a 100 percent contempt of court today.