Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday challenged Prime Minister Imran Khan to hold snap elections if he “is confident that people will vote for him again” but added that the “coward” prime minister will not do that.
Addressing a ceremony in Multan, he said that the PPP was all set to hold the long march, scheduled for February 27, against the “incompetent” rulers and would take the prime minister head-on after reaching Islamabad.
“Imran Khan has been lecturing us… today, I challenge him that if he’s not a coward then leave the prime minister’s post and announce the election date… we will not need to carry out the protest march then,” he added.
Bilawal added that if Imran Khan was so confident that the people were going to vote for him again then he should announce early elections, “but he knows that the people were fed up with him”.
He said that even after three years in power, PM Imran was still harping on his corruption mantra and people have stopped listening to the same record again and again.
The PPP chairman was referring to the premier’s speech he delivered as he launched the Sehat Insaf Card in Faisalabad. He came down hard on Bilawal for refusing to implement the health card scheme in Sindh.
Bilawal, while responding to the prime minister’s scathing attack, said: “They tried to create false cases against us but they’re yet to prove anything in court”. “According to Transparency International, Pakistan’s most corrupt government is currently sitting at the Centre,” he added.
The PPP chairman said that during the tenure of former army chief General (retd) Pervez Musharraf “many such cases were instituted against us but we were innocent then and we are also innocent now”.
“Benazir Bhutto was declared innocent and the dictator has been declared a criminal by the courts… the people of Pakistan will never forgive Imran Khan,” he remarked.
He said that his party will continue to protest against the “selected” rulers until the people of Pakistan are relieved from such incompetent people.
LONG MARCH: Bilawal said the PPP Central Executive Committee (CEC) decided that it would start its long march on February 27 from Karachi as it has declared war on the “selected government”.
He said that the PPP exposed the PTI-led government on the first day of its tenure and is fighting it since then.
“Other parties were not participating in the by-elections, however, the PPP stood its ground and fought against the PTI by not leaving the field empty,” he said, adding that the party fought in the Senate election as well.
Bilawal said that the march would be successful as “Imran has already lost the first round of local body elections.”
He took a swipe at the prime minister and said that “Imran Niazi is running away after disqualifying his candidate (Faisal Vawda) to contest in the next elections.”
“The PM should dissolve the National Assembly before the march if he has the courage to do so,” he added.
“Some people did not stand with us on the no-confidence motion, however, they are now supporting us,” said Bilawal, adding that the party will campaign for the no-confidence motion to oust the PTI-led government.
Calling the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2021, an “anti-national agreement”, he said that it is a deal between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and PTI.
