The Pakistan Peoples Party would oppose the legislation “protecting holy cows”, co-chairman Bilawal Bhutto said on Sunday.

“Same legislation or law should be applicable to every Pakistani,” he said at a ceremony held in connection with the Golden Jubilee of the 1973 Constitution in Karachi. “If we had such a system, we would have been getting justice.”

He spoke while speaking about a federal government’s bill to amend the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) where up to five-year imprisonment will be awarded to whoever scandalises or ridicules the Pakistan Army and judiciary through any medium.

Bilawal, who is the foreign minister, called for ending this trend of “holy cows” while referring to the subjects referred to in the bill. He suggested that the law should be the same whether it’s a citizen or any judge.

He also spoke about the legislation related to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The National Assembly last year passed a bill that aimed at further clipping the wings of the national graft-buster by proposing that all corruption cases involving an amount below Rs500 million would not come in its purview.

The PPP co-chairman wondered about the judges’ interest in the reforms needed in the anti-graft body. “Maybe the good thing is that the NAB law is applicable to me and you, it is not applicable to them,” he told a gathering sitting in a hall.

He reiterated that the Sindh-ruling party was in favour of closing NAB. If not, he added that the PPP was not much interested in the kind of reforms. But, he highlighted that there would be one reform that he would personally present: NAB law should be applicable to the judiciary whether it is a sitting judge or not.

Bilawal supported his claim by saying that corruption was rampant, including in Parliament and possibly in the judiciary. A strong chief justice, with the right approach and law, could end corruption, he claimed and added that with the right approach, people could be removed in a democratic way.

“Unfortunately, we are running this system of the holy cow in which there are different laws for a common citizen and holy cows,” he said and vowed to oppose the “dubious law”.

‘We don’t have time for these petty fights’

Foreign Minister Bilawal stressed the need for consensus among political parties as the country was dealing with the political, constitutional, and economic crises.

“Constitution is a contract between the state and its citizens. If we keep fighting amongst ourselves, then others would continue to benefit from the situation. We can only decide who will rule through the people’s vote,” he said.

He recalled that when former dictator General (retd) Pervaiz Musharraf sabotaged the Constitution, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto herself reached out to her own political opponents to build consensus on the “Charter of Democracy”.

Without naming Imran Khan, he accused the PTI chief of creating polarisation in the country and dividing the country’s institutions.

“The kind of issues we are facing today, a burden which would be bear by poor and common people. People’s issues will increase if we will continue to fight. The number one issue of the common people is the economy. We don’t have time for these petty fights at a time when terrorism is resurfacing in the country. It will benefit terrorists if we will continue to fight,” Bilawal said.

The foreign minister reiterated that solution to the current issues lies in the Constitution. “We can manage many issues if we implement the Constitution.”