PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has put the onus of constitutional amendment approval on PTI, saying that it was high time that Imran Khan’s party stood up to its name.

“The onus is on PTI… if you are serious in politics. Tehreek-e-Insaf is your [PTI] name not mine,” Bilawal told reporters after meeting JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in Islamabad to discuss the legislation related to judicial reforms.

“You [PTI] should have brought judicial reforms and the bill. Two months have passed and PTI did not present a ‘single point’. The government is taunting me about delaying the passage of the constitutional amendments despite having enough numbers.”

Described as the 26th constitutional amendment, the legislation aims to change the process of appointments of the chief justice of the Supreme Court.

A special parliamentary committee made a major breakthrough in the draft of the legislation as panel head Khursheed Shah announced that the committee has “unanimously” approved the draft.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan also spoke on the same wavelength. But Gohar, Fazl and BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal demanded that their lawmakers should not be coerced to vote for the legislation.

Bilawal has also expressed concerns about such reports and urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to resolve such issues.

Bilawal, who has described the legislation as part of the ‘Charter of Democracy’ signed by his late mother Benazir Bhutto, said that he has worked to present the legislation through a political consensus.

“I don’t want the government to lead the legislation as it will give an impression that it belongs to the government,” the PPP chairman said, “I want Fazl to present our bill and save Parliament and democracy. It will be our political victory.”

He went on to add that passing the amendment through the political consensus would be the success of “real democratic forces.” Bilawal expressed hope that the PTI would do “positive politics.”

If the amendment is passed by all parliamentarians’ vote, he said that it would be like the way the 18th Constitutional Amendment was passed in 2010. “If this amendment does not pass by consensus rather than by a majority of members then we will have a court but it will be the defeat of Parliament.”

Bilawal, who has made several trips to Fazl’s residence to find common ground, stated that the two sides were making “so much effort”. But he added that the government has shown its “limit of patience.”

According to the scion of the Bhutto dynasty, “little time is left” to pass the amendment through Parliament. He hoped that the PTI would visit Fazl’s residence to learn from his experience and politics.

“Finally, the PTI will appear as a political party,” he said, “the PTI will cry foul if the government takes any other route over that legislation. I am telling the media that it will be only PTI’s fault.”

Bilawal wishes JUI-F lawmaker present legislation in Parliament

Bilawal set off his press conference with a wish that a JUI-F lawmaker present the constitutional amendment in the august house.

He went on to add that the joint draft of PPP and the JUI-F was made in a way the latter wanted.

The PPP chief clarified that there was a misunderstanding about the draft approved by the special parliamentary committee. “It gave a wrong perception as if JUI-F stepped back from its principal position.

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Points on which we reached a consensus, including empowering lawmakers to send any bill – if needed – to the Council of Islamic Ideology, would be incorporated into the legislation, he said and hoped that the PTI would vote for the JUI-F’s draft.

He claimed that all of PTI’s demands have been met. “So now you [PTI] should prove that you are a political party, not a social media group. In politics, you are never 100% successful. Politics is about compromise and reaching consensus.”

JUI-F spokesperson Aslam Ghourim, who standing next to Bilawal at the media talk, said: “I don’t think there should be anything [objectionable] on the draft as the draft was also shown to the PML-N which has not refused. The PTI has also not rejected it.”