The ‘king’s party’ would have the same fate that it had in 2008, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto said on Friday as the new parties campaign ahead of the delayed general elections which are scheduled to be held on February 8.

“As far as ‘king’s party’ is concerned not just in Punjab but all over the country comes to the fore in every election. But hopefully, the ‘king’s party’ will have the same fate that we did in 2008,” he told reporters in Karachi.

In Pakistan’s political spectrum, experts have used the above mentioned term for parties that were formed in elections to tame the support base of popular parties. In recent times, they have labeled PTI-Parliamentarians led by Pervaiz Khattak and the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party headed by Jahangir Khan Tareen with such a term.

Both parties were formed with the help of PTI defectors. Many politicians joined the parties after the May 9 events following the first arrest of PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the graft case within the premises of Islamabad High Court.

On November 3, the Supreme Court ordered the federal and provincial governments to ensure elections on February 8 in the upcoming year without any hurdles.

On the same wavelength, he said that the emergence of new parties in Punjab and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa gives a “wrong impression”. Bilawal added that the political consciousness of the people has increased which has enabled people to think about the loyalty of the politicians switching their sides.

He was of the view that defectors would have difficulty in contesting elections as the voters would have doubt about their loyalty.

In response to a query pertaining to the army’s alleged role in politics, he said that it was a long journey and the PPP would continue to do it.

“Our destination is that every institution works in their domain. Hopefully, we will succeed in this endeavour,” the PPP chief said.

When asked, the PPP chairman said that the 18th Constitutional Amendment brought by his party in 2010 has “closed the doors” of derailing the democracy. “As far as ladla [favourite] and selection is concerned, we need more efforts to end this and we should believe in the people and let them decide who they want to pick.”

The tweak removed the power of the president to dissolve Parliament unilaterally and gave autonomy to the provinces. The former Sindh ruling party hails it as one of their biggest political achievement.

He went on to add that the coalition between the PML-N and the MQM-P would be an advantage for the Bhutto-led party.

Earlier this week, the two parties tied the ‘electoral knot’. The decision came after a delegation of MQM-P called on PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and other party leaders. Both parties also decided to form a six-member committee. The committee will prepare a comprehensive charter for the problems of Sindh, especially focusing on urban areas.

In reaction to the development, there were reports that the PPP would join hands with the PTI to defeat the coalition.

He expressed hope that the PPP would engage with the Maulana Fazlur Rehman who leads the JUI-F. According to Bilawal, all the candidates of the PPP want to contest the elections on the symbol of an arrow.

He was also asked to comment on the PML-N’s decision to appoint a bureaucrat as the president of the PML-N in Sindh.

“This development gives a message that they [PTI and PML-N] were together. I think the PPP should think that Zardari Sb and Faryal Talpur were sent to jail in Khan’s tenure but the person who made cases is the PML-N president,” Bilawal said.

When asked about Imran Khan’s role in elections, he said: “Let’s see what happens.”

Deportation of Afghan immigrants

He called for having engagement with the interim Afghan government while responding to a question on the expulsion of the illegal Afghan immigrants from Pakistan.

Caretaker Balochistan Information Minister Jan Achakzai said on Thursday that documented immigrants would also be sent back to Afghanistan.

“I don’t see clarity. I think when we talk about Afghanistan we should be strictly deal with TTP, terrorists, and those who are attacking our men and police. There should be a gap between people and terrorists,” Bilawal said.

The PPP chief said that his party was not against the law, but his party believed in human rights as taught by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

“We believe that if someone wants to go they should go respectfully. That’s why our serious issue is here. As far as TTP is considered and their groups is considered, I want Afghan people to be with us to face these groups.”

Bilawal said that he was unaware of BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal’s comments pertaining to the no-confidence motion against former prime minister Imran Khan.

He claimed that former army chief General Qamar Bajwa had approached the-then opposition with an offer of holding elections.

“If he [Bajwa] had helped us then he won’t have made such a request,” Bilawal said.

Bilawal called for shunning the politics of hurling slogans in favour of favourite persons in rallies.