Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressing the media after attending the hearing of the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Presidential Reference, said that the court is being briefed by the amicus over the criminal aspects after gauging the legal and constitutional aspects of the case. An amicus assists the court without bias, and does not represent any party in the case. Not one amicus in this case till now is of the view that the sentence Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto received and the process was justified. Every single lawyer so far, presented before the court has produced a mountain of evidence that there has been a miscarriage of justice, and this case was motivated by bias and Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was judicially murdered. They are proving that there was no judicial process or trial, but Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s assassination. Evidences are being presented before the court rapidly, and the parties of the case, including Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, Fatima Bhutto and Zulfikar Jr. who are yet to address the court. We hope that justice will be served at last, and that the blot on the institutions due to this decision will be washed, Chairman PPP said.
Responding to questions, Chairman Bilawal said that President Zardari will himself shortlist the governors for the provinces after he is elected. The process has not yet begun. Answering another question, he said that the first step towards setting history straight, is to give such a strong decision in this case that allows for the tradition of victimisation to be buried forever. It has been PPP’s consistent stance since three generations for all of the country’s institutions to operate within their constitutional boundaries. This is an integral step towards strengthening the democracy, economy and federation of Pakistan. If we wish for the judiciary and the establishment including other institutions to work within their domains, it is the politicians of the country that first need to understand the importance of engaging within their political boundaries. Only in this manner can we avoid incidents such as May 9 among others. Otherwise, we cannot expect our judiciary, media or any other institution to stay within their limits. Politicians would also need to decide to respect each other. When politicians do not respect each other, and have no regard for basic manners, they should not expect any other institution to respect them, Chairman PPP said. Many of the country’s issues would resolve automatically if the politicians decide to put an end to their ego and internal grudges.
Responding to a question, Chairman Bilawal said that the PPP did not think only for itself. It could have chosen to remain nonchalant to the entire situation, as the onus was not on the PPP to form the government owed to the numbers. The country’s economy, democracy, stability and federation were all at stake, which compelled the PPP to make a decision. The PPP decided to engage with the party it was approached by. The other party in this case, the Sunni Ittehad Council did not approach the PPP for votes to begin with. They cannot now raise objections over someone else forming the government, as they made no efforts to do so themselves. They made the decision to not engage with us themselves. We were then left with the option to engage with the party that approached us. The PPP will continue to provide its input through the parliamentary system.
Chairman Bilawal said that we are grateful to the Sunni Ittehad Council and PTI as they allowed for Maryam Nawaz and Murad Ali Shah to be elected as the chief ministers of their respective provinces unopposed. Shehbaz Sharif is now on his way to unanimously being elected as the PM, and the credit goes to the two parties mentioned.
Chairman PPP said that Arif Alvi could not fulfil the responsibility of being a president. He will now face many legal challenges, beginning with the night that he abrogated the Constitution and dissolved the Assembly despite the no-confidence motion. Now, he has again abrogated the Constitution and failed to fulfil his duty to convene a session of the National Assembly.
Answering another question, Chairman Bilawal said that the PPP is of the view that only more and more democracy is the solution to the problems of the people. The process of reconciliation is vital, but difficult to carry out. At the time of the Charter of Democracy, both parties accepted their shortcomings and derived a future course of action. The PTI’s plight is that it refuses to accept its own mistakes and does not believe in the country’s Constitution, democracy and system. President Zardari in his press conference had mentioned that the PTI would be a part of the process of reconciliation. However, till date, the PTI refuses to admit its own faults.
Chairman PPP said that the people of Sindh have given a historic mandate to the PPP for its performance in the province. Hafeez Pasha, in his book, ‘Human Security in Pakistan’ has compared the performance of all the provinces. PPP’s led Sindh government has surpassed all provinces including Punjab, which is why Syed Murad Ali Shah was the PPP’s candidate for CM, and triumphed. Chairman Bilawal said that the PPP’s aim was to release all political prisoners after coming to power, but the party is now in the position to propose this as an advice.