If PM tenders resignation then there will be no need of tabling no-confidence motion & carrying out long march: Bilawal
Says if all the institutions will remain neutral then the puppet prime minister will go home
Says his party was ready to back PML-N’s candidate for PM’s slot if the Opposition is able to oust incumbent govt
KARACHI ( Web News )
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said Saturday his party was ready to back PML-N’s candidate for the prime minister’s slot if the Opposition is able to oust the incumbent government. He said that if prime minister tenders resignation then there will be no need of tabling no-confidence motion and carrying out long march. Bilawal Bhutto said that we are coming to Islamabad, adding that we want to use democratic weapons of protest and tabling no-confidence motion. He said that if all the institutions will remain neutral then the puppet prime minister will go home.
In a press conference alongside party leaders in the port city, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said in a democracy, anyone having the majority can decide who becomes the next prime minister. “PML-N clearly has the majority; PPP and other Opposition parties are ready to sacrifice the prime minister’s seat for them,” the PPP chairman said, stressing the major stakeholder should announce its candidate for the office. “We plan on not repeating the mistakes we did in the past,” he added.
Bilawal Bhutto said that his party has decided to launch a “democratic attack” against the government and urged the other Opposition parties to adopt a unified stance of ousting the incumbent PTI-led administration.
The PPP chairman ruled out opting for undemocratic tactics to achieve the goal of dismissing the government.
Bilawal Bhutto also advised PTI’s allies, especially the MQM-Pakistan, to join hands with the anti-government movement as the PPP is all set to begin its “awami march” today (Sunday)— from Karachi to Islamabad.
“However, if Prime Minister Imran Khan decides to resign voluntarily, then there won’t be a need to hold the long march,” Bilawal Bhutto said.
Speaking about Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Sindh Huqooq March, Bilawal Bhutto said that the PTI leaders say that they have come out for the rights of the people of the province and hence, kick-started their march from Ghotki; however, they are the ones who did not give the farmers their due share of urea. “The people of Sindh will respond accordingly,” he said.
Terming the march as a “political circus” he said that PPP has no threat from “a group of political orphans” gathered in Sindh. Bilawal Bhutto said that they will reach Islamabad while passing through 37 cities.
Bilawal said that his party’s long march will reach Lahore on March 5 and will reach Gujranwala on March 6, while the last phase of march will start from March 8.
Bilawal said that the life of common man has become a hell and inflation, poverty has increased historically, adding that the PPP will fight for the rights of our people. “Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab should be given their rights,” the PPP Chairman said and added the provinces are being deprived of the NFC award.
Criticizing the selected government, he further said, “We have been raising our voice against PTIMF from day one. PTIMF is against the interest of Pakistan.” Bilawal said that it is the incompetence and failure of this government to make an agreement with the IMF that goes against the people. The burden of the government’s incompetence is being borne by the common man in the form of price-hike of electricity, gas bills, inflation, and uncontrolled petrol and medicines prices.
He further said that we want Pakistan to come out of this deal and make a new deal which is in the interest of the country. He said that every promise of Khan Sahib turned out to be false, Imran Khan has taken U-turns on every commitment.
“This government is undemocratic, but we have taken up democratic arms against it,” said Chairman PPP. “The Long March is a democratic attack on this undemocratic government.” He said the purpose of our protest is to convince the people and the members of the Assembly that the time has come where people have lost confidence in the selected Prime Minister, now the parliament should also express its distrust. “We want to show the people who stand with this puppet after the no-confidence motion is brought,” stated Chairman PPP.
He further said that through protests and no-confidence motion he only wants immediate and transparent elections in the country. After the removal of Khan Sahib, the next setup will have the mandate to amend or introduce electoral reforms. All the opposition parties agree that whatever government is formed with a fresh mandate, it will have the power to get the people out of the tough times they are currently in.
Bilawal Bhutto said that the senior leader of the party Taj Haider has prepared a comprehensive report on the 2018 elections, in which it has been pointed out how the said election process was compromised and what role was played by which institution.
We want the Election Commission to review this report and investigate it on their own before releasing this report to the public. If the Election Commission does not address our concerns then this report will have to be brought before other concerned institutions and the public.
Talking about the long march, Chairman PPP said that it would be the longest march in the history of the country covering more than 2000 kilometers.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that he appealed to the people of Pakistan, the youth, farmers, laborers, women and minorities to support the Pakistan Peoples Party, which wants to solve their problems. Let’s build a Pakistan as promised by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Quaid-e-Awam Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
Responding to a question from a journalist during a press conference, the Chairman PPP said that all the opposition parties would have to come together and be on the same page to remove the present incompetent government.
He said that he wants clean and transparent elections in the country as soon as possible. “I don’t want the 2018 election to be replayed again,” he said. “Imran Khan wants to rig the election, that’s why he’s using tactics such as the PECA ordinance.
Responding to a question, the Chairman PPP said that the PPP believed in the power of the people and democratic politics and demanded that Imran Khan’s facilitators should remain neutral and no institution should go beyond its mandate. We are not asking who is behind Imran Khan.
“We demand that all institutions remain neutral. He said that we hope that if the establishment is neutral then Imran Khan will be defeated in the no-confidence motion. We hope that all the institutions will remain neutral as per the constitution,” he added.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the opposition parties agreed on one point, that the current incompetent government should be removed. In the past there have been many forms of protests in Pakistan, sit-ins have been allowed here, Parliament and PTV have been attacked, but we will take a democratic and peaceful approach. Khan Sahib has imposed a tax on everything, but there is no tax on the no-confidence motion. We will bring a no-confidence motion, and God willing, we will succeed.
Chairman PPP said that we always think in the interest of Pakistan, and it is in the interest of Pakistan that we remove this person from office. Khan’s foreign policy has failed, whether in neighboring countries or in countries like China and the United States.
Responding to a question about the march announced by PTI, Bilawal Bhutto said that the present government was ready to use every tactic to save its tyrannical rule. “Our long march will be peaceful, we believe in democracy,” said Chairman PPP. “I wonder what the gang of political orphans is protesting against. We should be told who has robbed all the rights of Sindh including gas and water.”
Without naming the wrong march of the PTI, he questioned whether these people will ask the people to support them because they have sky-rocketed the prices of electricity, gas, petrol and sugar? Two of his federal ministers robbed a stockpile of fertilizer. There is also a minister who tried to take over the islands of Sindh. I believe the people of Sindh will answer them and he asked to the media to show the truth about who the people are with.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said he was confident that the police and the administration would not allow any clash. Chairman PPP said that he appeals to all the parties, including the MQM and GDA, which have formed this government to keep their ministry on one side and the issues facing the people on the other. I have asked the Chief Minister to talk to the MQM and GDA, because we believe in dialogue.
In response to another question, he said that we have never asked the workers to take down the flag of any party. Due to the hard work of the jiyalas, the party has become stronger all over Karachi including Central District.
PPP Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, Senator Sherry Rehman, Senator Taj Haider, Shazia Ata Marri, Faisal Karim Kundi, Waqar Mehdi, Nasir Hussain Shah, Saeed Ghani and other leaders were also present on the occasion.