Bilawal says PPP resisted Centre’s plan to impose governor’s rule in KP

KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Friday that the federal government was prepared to impose governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but his party urged the Centre to use it as a last resort.

Speaking at a ceremony after inaugurating a sports complex in Karachi, Bilawal said the PPP did not want governor’s rule or an emergency in the province and had advocated resolving the political dispute through negotiations.

He said the situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was evident to everyone, accusing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led provincial government of prioritising confrontational politics over public welfare.

Bilawal said that if the KP governor had written to the president, governor’s rule would already have been imposed in the province. However, he said, the PPP had urged the relevant stakeholders to pursue dialogue instead of taking an immediate decision.

“If the PPP had followed the same politics as the PTI, decisions could have been taken in haste,” he said, adding that the party did not want governor’s rule or an emergency to be imposed in the province.

The PPP chairman warned, however, that if such a step were taken in the future, responsibility would rest with Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, whom he accused of undermining negotiations.

He questioned why the chief minister would want to bring down his own government and why efforts to negotiate a settlement were being obstructed.

The remarks come amid heightened political tensions between the centre and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as the PTI presses ahead with its long march on Islamabad after disagreements over security and the provincial government’s approach to counterterrorism ended in a deadlock.

Bilawal urges PTI to abandon confrontational politics

Bilawal said that the PTI retained political support but continued to disappoint its supporters through what he described as extremist and confrontational politics, warning that the approach was damaging both the party and the country.

He urged PTI leaders to adopt democratic practices and abandon confrontation if they wanted to protect their provincial government.

“The PTI’s friends should become democratic and abandon the politics of extremism so that they can save their government,” he said.

The PPP chairman said that he wanted political differences to be resolved through negotiations and expressed hope that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s efforts to facilitate dialogue would succeed.

He also urged the PTI to reach an agreement before the situation escalated to the imposition of governor’s rule, saying the chief minister should demonstrate his sincerity by giving up confrontational politics.

Drawing a comparison with President Asif Ali Zardari’s time in prison, Bilawal said that Zardari had spent 14 years behind bars and warned that PTI founder Imran Khan could spend an extended period in prison if his party continued with its existing political approach.

Bilawal said that the PTI should use its political support to participate in democratic processes rather than pursue a strategy that could further isolate it.

Calls for parliamentary committee on electoral reforms

Bilawal said that an agreement had been reached between opposition parties and the federal government to establish a parliamentary committee on electoral reforms.

He said that the PPP wanted free and fair elections and believed that parliamentary engagement was necessary to address concerns about the electoral process.

Questioning the PTI’s approach, he asked how the party could help prevent alleged rigging in future elections if it refused to participate in the proposed committee.

He urged the PTI to abandon confrontational politics and take part in parliamentary and democratic processes to pursue electoral reforms.

Bilawal said political parties should work together to strengthen the electoral system rather than allow disputes over elections to deepen political divisions.

Karachi restored peace after major sacrifices

Speaking about Karachi, Bilawal said that the city had endured years of violence and suffered heavy losses before peace was restored through significant sacrifices.

He said Karachi was no longer known as a city of bodies dumped in sacks, referring to the violence that had plagued the metropolis in the past.

The PPP chairman criticised political forces that had made promises about transforming Karachi, accusing them of promoting divisions and setting people against one another.

He said the people of Karachi should decide who represented their interests and who should be allowed to shape the city’s future.

Bilawal also highlighted the role of local government, saying the PPP had empowered elected local representatives from Larkana to Karachi.

He argued that municipal representatives should have the authority to address local issues and deliver services to residents.

Earlier, Bilawal inaugurated a sports complex in Karachi, describing it as another development project aimed at providing facilities to the city’s residents.

He also referred to the inauguration of the third phase of Thar Coal Block II in Tharparkar.

He said some political forces wanted to push Karachi’s youth towards criminal activities, whereas the PPP wanted young people to have pens in their hands and access to opportunities through education and constructive engagement.

The party, he said, believed in positive politics rather than the politics of hatred and extremism.

Supports provincial status for G-B, South Punjab

Bilawal said that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan wanted constitutional rights and that the PPP stood with them in their demand.

He said new provinces should be created in areas where there was a consensus in favour of such a move, adding that the PPP supported provincial status for Gilgit-Baltistan.

He also expressed support for the demand for a South Punjab province, saying his party was prepared to back the initiative.

Bilawal said areas where people wanted separate provinces should not face unnecessary delays and called for steps to be taken where public support and political consensus existed.

He advised Mustafa Kamal and Mohsin Naqvi to consult the public on the issue and ascertain what people wanted.

Calls for relief amid inflationary pressures

Bilawal said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wanted to provide maximum relief to the public but stressed that the government needed to focus on inflation and the economic difficulties facing households.

He said the conflict between the United States and Iran had created a significant crisis, adding to the challenges confronting the country.

The PPP chairman said the federal government should prioritise measures to ease the burden on the public rather than remain focused on political developments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said his priority was to see people receive relief and urged the government to address inflation and other pressing public concerns.