ISLAMABAD - Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday said that he would not even pick former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s telephone call let alone supporting him after his unceremonious ouster last month.
Addressing a news conference here, Bilawal said that the PPP would not protect Sharif as he had always stabbed in the back after returning to power.
“This time I will not even attend his phone call. I will not sign any new reconciliation agreement with him,” he asserted.
Sharif was disqualified on July 28th by the Supreme Court for hiding assets. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader later said he respected the Supreme Court (SC)’s verdict but had his reservations.
This week, Nawaz Sharif left Islamabad for Lahore along with thousands of supporters along the famous Grand Trunk Road.
The rally is expected to end in Lahore today (August 12th) as Sharif stopped at different stations to address his loyalists.
Bilawal said the PPP had never supported the PML-N but had stood for democracy in the previous years.
“Even if there is a danger to democracy today, we will stand with democracy. However, at this moment there is no threat to democracy but there is obviously a danger to Nawaz Sharif’s own survival. For this we can’t help,” he contended.
The PPP chief said that if the PML-N proposed to remove the articles 62 and 63 from the constitution the PPP would consider supporting the move. “We will see when they table such a proposal. But this will not save Nawaz Sharif as he has been sent home,” he maintained.
About Sharif’s calls for making the elected prime ministers stronger as PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, charismatic leader Benazir Bhutto and erstwhile PM Yousaf Raza Gilani were all removed unceremoniously, Bilawal said: “This is all drama. He conspired against us every time he was in power. He is trying to prove himself innocent now.”
Bilawal said that Sharif was not expected to gain anything from reviewing the Panama leaks verdict as the same judges would hear the case.
“I don’t understand that he is regularly making statements that amount to contempt of court and is expecting relief from the same judges,” the PPP leader said.
To a question about his own bid to contest the by-elections along with his father Asif Ali Zardari to enter the incumbent National Assembly, he said: “The Panama leaks scandal took too much time. Now we are heading to general elections. Even if they are held in 2017, we are ready. We planned to contest the by-elections but it seems the time is over for that move.”
Late last year, Zardari had announced that he and Bilawal would contest by-elections but no schedule was ever announced. Although the incumbent National Assembly is marching towards the end of the tenure – with some predicting early elections – Zardari repeatedly said he would not skip his plan to contest by-polls.
When told that Zardari had only a couple of months ago said there was no change in the plan to contest the by-elections, Bilawal said: “That was before the Panama leaks verdict. The case took some time and we think we are now nearing the general elections [so there is no need to engage in this activity].”
When his attention was drawn to the contradictory statements of the PPP leaders on the Panama leaks issue and the articles 62 and 63 of the constitution, Bilawal said there were personal opinions within the party but overall there was no contradiction in the PPP policy.
Asked does the PPP support Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani’s proposal to hold an inter-institutional dialogue to avoid confrontation in the future, Bilawal said: “Raza Rabbani is the chairman of the Senate and unlike other parties we give him full independence to work. If he thinks it will be beneficial, we will not stop him.”
The PPP chief was confident that the party would perform better in the Punjab in the next general elections.
“We were not allowed to campaign by the terrorists. The militants allowed Nawaz Sharif and [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader] Imran Khan to organise rallies and we left to watch them amid security threats. This time I will campaign myself and Asif Ali Zardari will be with me. We will perform much better,” he said.
Bilawal said Faisal Mir, brother of prominent anchorperson Hamid Mir, would contest the elections in NA-120 Lahore by-election on PPP ticket.
The seat fell vacant after Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification.
The PML-N has fielded Sharif’s wife Kulsoom Nawaz.
The PTI has awarded ticket to Dr Yasmin Rashid.
To a question that a sitting judge had allegedly discriminated against the minorities on the issue of the two-nation theory, he said: “I am unaware of the statement but if did it, I condemn it.”
The PPP chief said the death of a minor boy during Sharif’s rally had saddened him.
Earlier, Bilawal addressed an event organised by the PPP to mark the “Minorities Day”.
The PPP chief said that his party believed in equal opportunities for the members of the minority communities.
He said that the PPP did not discriminate among the citizens on the basis of cast, creed or religion.
“We have always worked to create an egalitarian society where everyone enjoys equal rights,” Bilawal added.
He said that the PPP had passed a law in Sindh to get minorities’ marriages registered, which was a longstanding issue.