ISLAMABAD   -   Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in a startling revelation, claimed yesterday that he had received a threat either to accept early elections or face martial law in the country.

“A night before the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan, one of the ministers [from PTI’s government], threatened him to either accept early elections or face martial law,” Bilawal said mentioning that the threat was conveyed to him by a government minister through a colleague. Speaking on a point of order in the National Assembly here, Bilawal said that the no-trust motion against Imran Khan went successful despite all the failed attempts to foil the move against PTI government.

“Imran Khan and PTI are still trying to create political instability and making irresponsible attacks,” he said, adding that the purpose of these attempts is to make possible early polls in the country.

“We should all make efforts to foil this conspiracy. We will all have to come together and work hard to foil this conspiracy and save the country,” he said.

Repeating PPP-P Co-Chiarman Asif Ali Zardari’s view point about early polls in the country, the minister made it clear that ‘reforms’ would be first priority. “First reforms, then elections,” he said, adding that the party did not believe in political engineering and desired free and fair elections.

About the electoral reforms in the country, Bilawal said electoral reforms were a two-step process, where first the “undemocratic” bills and ordinances passed during the PTI government’s tenure needed to be repealed before passing any new legislation.

“We will have to brainstorm about the electoral reforms and for this civil society, the FAFEN and many other communities which we can engage with to ensure that what happened in the 2018 elections does not happen again.”

About the Charter of Democracy (CoD), he said the country’s political parties were in consensus over the Charter of Democracy (CoD). The minister said that while there was some work remaining on the implementation of the CoD and a long way to go before a second such document was made, there should at the very least be a ‘minimal code of conduct’. “There should be a minimal code of conduct for parties that are present here and those that are not, which begs the question. What kind of politics do you want to do?”

BLOODY ELECTIONS & FORMATION OF PARLIAMENTARY PROBE

Bilawal called for taking all political parties on board for this basic code of conduct, warning that failure to do so would result in “bloody” elections. “If all political parties don’t agree on a basic code of conduct before the next elections, then our next election will be bloody.”

Strongly criticizing the PTI, he called for the formation of a parliamentary body to investigate the events [Rejection of No-trust motion]. “All institutions in the country were made controversial over the whims of the former premier [Imran Khan].”

The minister further alleged that instead of facing the no-trust motion the former prime minister had resorted to violating the Constitution and attacking democracy on his way out.

He went on to say that the former prime minister, the former deputy speaker and the president were violating the Constitution. “As far as April 3 is concerned, the Supreme Court (SC) made it clear in its verdict that it was unconstitutional,” he said, claiming that the former prime minister was thinking of himself as a “sacred cow”. “He is traipsing around the country and presenting himself as a sacred cow, and doing things that are against our national interests, our Constitution and our international standing,” he said.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, responding to a point raised by an opposition member, categorically stated that Pakistan cannot engage with a belligerent India. She made it clear that there is no change in Pakistan’s policy with regards to India.

“Pakistan cannot antagonize any country. We are not against any country. She said Pakistan wants to improve the level of engagement with the European Union as the GSP Plus status has helped in improving the country’s exports,” she said, adding that the government’s foreign policy will serve the interests of the country. She however regretted there had been no deft handling of the foreign policy in the three and a half years of PTI government.

About the water shortage in the country, Minister for Water Resources Khurshid Shah expressed the confidence that the water situation will improve by 30th of next month. He said the water situation is improving in Tarbela.