PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday demanded of the country’s institutions to remain “neutral” - an apparent reference to the country's establishment - as his party takes to the streets tomorrow (Sunday) to start its anti-government protest and table a no-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan in Parliament.
“We demand everyone should stay neutral and no institution should overstep its mandate. We believe if the establishment is neutral, then PM Imran Khan will not be successful [against the opposition’s no-trust move in parliament],” he said in response to a question after the press conference in Karachi. He was accompanied by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and PPP Sindh chapter President Nisar Khuhro.
Underscoring his belief in law enforcement, local administration and institutions, he said there would be no clashes between his party workers and organs of the state.
“We hope we will not repeat past mistakes and politicians are allowed to fight politically,” he said, while warning that anything to the contrary would be detrimental not only to the prime minister but the public as well.
He also pointed out that the PML-N and the PPP, the two biggest parties in the Opposition alliance, were on the same page regarding the future course of action.
“It won’t be appropriate if the opposition fights who will become the PM after the [success of the] no-trust move,” he said, adding that the largest party, which is PML-N, would nominate its candidate for the prime minister to have an equal playing field.
The protest schedule, as announced by PPP Chairman Bilawal, is:
Announcing the dates, Bilawal said the party’s protest was against the incumbent government, the ongoing policies, the denial of provincial rights, and the non-release of National Finance Commission Awards.
“It’s against a non-democratic government [PTI]. Our target is to bring all lawmakers on one page for the no-trust move,” he said, adding that the opposition wanted fair elections after tabling of the motion.
He added that the interim set-up would be bound to conduct free polls immediately after the ouster of the premier. Moreover, he shared party leader Taj Haider’s report on the last general elections and urged the election commission (ECP) to conduct its own investigation into Haider’s report and resolve the shortcomings mentioned in it.
The PPP chairman urged all political parties – including the ruling allies, PML-N, MQM, GDA, and BAP – to oust the government and to hand PM Imran a resounding political defeat. He also reminded PM Imran of his claim that he would resign even if 50 people were against him while telling him to step down.
Talking about the Opposition alliance, Bilawal stressed the need for cooperation among the ranks, saying that they were united on the single-point agenda to oust PM Imran.
He replied in the negative to a question about receiving any phone call, apparently from the Establishment.
“Had we not joined the Parliament we would not have been able to expose this government. Time has proved our decision to be the right one. We cannot leave space for non-democratic forces,” the PPP chairman said while responding to another query.
A legitimate form of protest would be the opposition’s form of no-trust move out of parliament, he said. In a follow up quip, Bilawal thanked the premier for not imposing any tax on the no-confidence motion.
“We only have to win once and the PM will be out,” Bilawal said, alleging that the government had failed in every field.
Bilawal also expressed his shock over the PTI’s long march in Ghotki, Sindh, alleging that the Centre ruling party was the one that deprived the province’s people of its resources and basic amenities.
