ISLAMABAD - PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Monday said that the ‘coward puppet’ government cannot scare the son of Benazir Bhutto by arresting Asif Ali Zardari and victimising the party leaders.

Speaking at a news conference here after the NAB arrested former president Asif Zardari, Bilawal claimed the government had broken the records of dictatorship in victimising the opposition.

“This never happened during General Zia (ul Haq) or (Pervez) Musharraf’s rule. They are not touching the ministers and ruling party members but arresting opposition leaders on fake charges,” he maintained.

The PPP chief said the government cannot scare the son of Benazir Bhutto. “How will they scare me? I have seen my mother dying in a terrorist attack, my uncles were murdered, my grandfather was hanged. I have seen all this. Do whatever you can, I will not compromise,” he added.

The PPP chief said the government was not interested to run the National Assembly. “We still want this parliament to complete its term. I am not impatient. We can wait for the election. However, the government itself seems puzzled. They are clueless. They are a weak government and can go,” he warned.

He claimed that the government was engaged in a targeted accountability against the opposition parties. “They have arrested Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif but the ministers and PTI leaders are walking free,” he remarked.

He said if the government had arrested all the ‘corrupt’ why the government of the ‘clean’ had become a failure. “The government has not been able to deliver. And where is the money recovered from the so-called corrupt going,” he questioned.

Bilawal said the production orders were Zardari’s right as he was a member of the National Assembly. He demanded resignation of Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser and Deputy Speaker National Assembly for being partial.

“The Speaker and Deputy Speaker National Assembly are working as an extension of the government. They must resign because they are partial,” he alleged.

The PPP chief said he was not allowed to speak in the parliament for a second time. “I strongly condemn the attitude of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker. They denied me the right to speak but gave mic to the ministers,” he contended.

He reminded that his party had already announced to start a mass contact campaign before Eidul Fitr. “We are in talks with other parties. We will continue the consultations (for joint efforts),” he said.

The PPP chief said the government was putting more burden on the poor and was facilitating the rich. 

Earlier, Bilawal had appealed party’s die-hard supporters to remain peaceful after Islamabad High Court rejected Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur’s pre-arrest bail plea in the money laundering case.

He said they party was awaiting IHC’s written order, adding that future strategy will be decided once the party receives the order.

Zardari surrendered himself to a team of the NAB after the IHC rejected the pre-arrest bail plea in the money laundering case.

Following the refusal of his pre-arrest bail, a team of the NAB accompanied by police personnel reached the residence of PPP co-chairman to arrest him.

PPP chairman Bilawal and Aseefa Bhutto were present when Zardari was arrested. The NAB team, however, did not arrest Faryal Talpur.