KARACHI:
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto urged the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday to end the “violent” protests that erupted following party chief Imran Khan’s arrest two days ago.
Addressing a press conference in Karachi, the PPP chief advised the PTI “not to make matters worse” terming the protests “completely unjustified”.
“It is violent and has created a scenario that has necessitated some serious conversations,” the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman said, adding that “those involved [in violence] will be held accountable”.
Nonetheless, Bilawal urged the PTI to refrain from making “matters worse [and] call for an end to violent protests and declare that you will abide by the rule of law and Constitution.”
“Accept that you will engage with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as citizens, not terrorists,” he said.
Bilawal also stressed that he was “principally opposed to the banning of any political party”, but in the same breath said that “such decisions are made in view of the circumstances”.
“If such a decision is taken,” he continued, “it would be taken because there would be no other choice left.”
“Any organisation would have had to face the music after the terrorist activities carried out yesterday,” he furthered.
“I think the events show that extreme restraint was shown not only by the Pakistani state but also the Pakistan Army,” said Bilawal, as he stressed that if a general’s house would be invaded or the headquarters of the armed forces attacked in any other country they would be met with “straight fire immediately”.
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He said that the government “in the moment, did not respond violently,” which he believed “speaks to the transition that we are in at the moment”.
Bilawal maintained that if the PTI was interested in remaining a political party, it would have called for peaceful protests.
“They have to decide for themselves if they are interested in doing politics, or have they taken up an armed resistance against the state of Pakistan,” the minister said.
He also said that the PPP was always against the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and ideologically believed it should be shut down.
“The Charter of Democracy included the closure of NAB from 2008 to 2013,” said Bilawal, “Imran Khan set that aside and started a campaign to save NAB.”
“When Nawaz Sharif came to power, we asked them again as opposition and adopted the stance that the NAB law should be amended and reformed, but to no avail,” he lamented.
“But the PTI kept defending the NAB for as long as PPP opposed it,” he stressed.
“If politicians are arrested then it is the political sphere that suffers. We [the PPP] are never the ones to celebrate such an event,” he added.
But, Bilawal also noted that the allegations levelled against the PTI chief were “severe”.
The foreign minister maintained that the PTI, in its protests, had “crossed the line” and asserted that it was the responsibility of the state and its institutions to implement law and order under the Constitution.
He also said his party was committed to holding elections “on time”.
Bilawal also expressed his disappointment with the outcome of the dialogue between political parties.
“I was hopeful that our dialogue would be successful […] that we would find a political solution,” he regretted, saying that the parties had failed to build consensus “due to many reasons”.
“Even today we want that elections are held and that they are held on time,” said Bilawal, stressing that the government must remain mindful that the prevailing political crisis does not negatively impact democracy in Pakistan.
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