PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Friday that the PTI’s “extremist politics” were hurting the party itself, calling on it to reconsider its political strategy.
“The PTI is a party that has public supporters, but it keeps disappointing the people because of its decisions and extremist politics,” Bilawal said while addressing an event in Karachi.
“It has no political role in this city or in the federal government, and if it continues with its extremist politics, it will not remain in [power] in the province [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] either.”
The comments come as the PTI has gone ahead with its long march, aimed to demand the release of jailed party founder and former prime minister Imran Khan, despite warnings from the Centre, which has vowed to prevent any gatherings in Islamabad.
“Instead of fulfilling their responsibilities and taking care of their province and its people, this party is stuck on the politics of hate,” Bilawal said.
He added that a week earlier, the federal government and the entire system had been prepared to impose an emergency in KP. The PPP, he said, had consistently maintained that imposing an emergency or introducing governor’s rule was a constitutional and legal option, but one that should be treated as a “legal atom bomb” and used only as a last resort.
In an apparent reference to talks between the government and opposition, he said, without explicitly naming anyone, that although all political parties including those in the opposition, had reached an agreement, the chief minister of one province had chosen “negative politics” instead of pursuing dialogue.
He said that sometimes “extremist politics” were preferred when one was in opposition, but said that this was ultimately affecting “the country, that province and its people, the youth and most of all the PTI”.
He called on the party to play its role in politics, adding that if it abandoned its current ways he would help to change the “political atmosphere” from Karachi itself. Bilawal said that Karachi had two political powers, the PPP and the PTI.
However, the PTI is fighting with other political parties, the federal government, the judiciary, Parliament and the establishment.
“When this is your politics, then your workers will also be disappointed,” he said. Bilawal said that the PTI had not participated in parliamentary proceedings.
He said after several months, the PML-N had agreed to form a parliamentary committee on electoral reforms.
“But it is expected that those crying the most about rigging … will not become a member of the committee. If you do not participate then how will we stop rigging in the future?” he asked.
Bilawal said that the PPP, from one political party to another, was insisting to the PTI to abandon its “extremist politics”. He said that once that happened, the space for dialogue would open and the party would be able to address its concerns.
“If they are true to their party and to their leader, if the chief minister who is so loud these days is true to Imran Khan, then he will abandon this extremist politics,” he said.
“It is Pakistan’s history; if someone is in jail today, it does not mean they remain there tomorrow,” he said. Bilawal said his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, held the “record” for being jailed the longest.
“If the PTI continues with its extremist politics, then Khan sahib will break Zardari sahib’s record and he will remain a prisoner. If the PTI leaves its extremist politics, then it will be able to achieve its political goals and save its workers from becoming disillusioned. Let’s see if they listen to what I am saying,” he said.
Bilawal said the country’s situation had deteriorated to the point where the public was facing hardships.
“Poverty is increasing to such an extent that the World Bank is now saying that Pakistan is bearing the heaviest burden of poverty and unemployment in the entire region,” Bilawal said.
“We want that whoever is the prime minister, in the federal government should be successful, so that the public gets relief. For creating those conditions, we need political stability, and this is only possible right now if political parties cooperate with each other on the country’s basic issues,” he said.
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