Chastising Imran Khan and his government for rigging the public mandate and subsequently pushing the country into a quagmire of economic and constitutional crises, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday said the prime minister did not believe in democracy, law or justice, and was trying to ‘fix the match’.
“Imran is an undemocratic man… he believes in a fixed match and only knows how to rig the elections. The prime minister is not trying to win the no-confidence [vote] but to rig. We will not let this defeated man rig anything.
The people of the country will not let him rig anything,” the PPP chief said during a press conference at Zardari House, Islamabad. “The prime minister is panicking and has now resorted to cursing his opponents because he can see his defeat. If he is an honourable man, he should just step aside, realising that he does not have the [required] numbers.”
Bilawal said that Article 6 of the constitution was very clear and applies to every person who wishes to meddle with a constitutional process. “When everyone can see that this man is trying to commit rigging… the police are barging into the Parliament Lodges to arrest honourable members. What message is being sent?” he said, requesting the chief justice of Pakistan, Islamabad High Court chief justice and the chief election commissioner to protect the voting rights of every parliamentarian.
He said that no one should be stopped from casting their vote, whether they belonged to the opposition or the treasury benches. “There is an ongoing conspiracy to deprive the members of parliament of their right. We will not tolerate this. We appeal to every single democratic individual who has sworn an oath to protect the constitution of Pakistan to ensure that the constitutional process is followed. This is the sole solution that can help the country emerge from this crisis.”
He said the no-confidence motion was not only against Imran Khan but also the economic crisis that had engulfed every Pakistani, who was now facing inflation and unemployment. “This no-confidence [motion] is against the foreign policy that has isolated Pakistan… and against the polarised anarchy we are headed towards as a society, caused by Imran Khan.”
Bilawal further mentioned that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) foreign funding case was still pending with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
He said everything would be clear once the decision in the case was announced. “We request the ECP to announce its decision regarding this case at its earliest. The nation should know which foreigners belonging to India and Israel funded this man.”
