Bilawal urges political solution to avert emergency, governor’s rule in KP

KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday called for a political solution to the security and political crisis in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying political parties should hold talks with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to avert the need for imposing emergency or governor’s rule in the province.

Addressing a ceremony in Karachi, Bilawal said the federal government had been in contact with President Asif Ali Zardari and the PPP for about a week over the deteriorating situation in KP, including recurring terrorism incidents and attacks from Afghanistan.

He said the federal government had, in his view, been fully prepared to impose emergency and governor’s rule in the province, describing both as constitutional options available when needed.

Bilawal said the PPP believed political parties should first make every effort to find a political solution that would allow the government and opposition to jointly address terrorism.

“We should make a full effort to find a political solution before using our constitutional atomic bomb and imposing emergency,” he said, according to the remarks.

He also called for political parties to be allowed to engage with PTI and persuade it to end its planned march on Islamabad, scheduled to be held on October 4.

Bilawal said that the federal and provincial governments should reach a written agreement on jointly combating terrorism.

‘Disagreements, protests should be kept separate from national issues’

Bilawal said political disagreements and protests should be kept separate from the national issue of combating terrorism.

He said that if a provincial government was not giving sufficient importance to terrorism and law-and-order issues, and allegations arose that it was not cooperating with the federal government, the country could be forced towards emergency or governor’s rule.

“Before that, our effort is to contact PTI,” he said, adding that PPP, PML-N and federal ministers were talking to PTI and trying to persuade the party to end its march.

Bilawal said all political parties in Islamabad should recognise the importance of the negotiations under way.

“I hope all political parties sitting in Islamabad will realise that these are very important negotiations,” he said, adding that reaching an amicable political solution was in the interests of all provinces, political parties and democracy.

Terrorism ‘red line’ for PPP

Bilawal said terrorism was a “red line” for the PPP and warned that worsening violence in Balochistan and KP could eventually affect other parts of the country, including Karachi.

He said the security situation in KP and Balochistan was serious and that terrorism should not be viewed through a political lens.

“We want all of us to jointly fight terrorism,” he said, urging the government and opposition to work together regardless of whether they were in power or opposition.

Bilawal also linked Karachi’s economic interests to developments elsewhere in the country, saying the city was interconnected with every province.

He said instability in KP could have repercussions for Karachi, while successful political negotiations could help create political stability and allow the government to continue delivering development projects.

The PPP chairman also praised the Sindh government and Karachi’s local government for their work on improving the city’s water supply.