Bilawal believes PTI will never exit KP, Punjab assemblies

KARACHI: PPP Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Wednesday Imran Khan-led PTI would never quit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab assemblies.

“If you want to resign, then go ahead. The PPP is ready to face you,” said Bilawal, adding his party was not afraid of “puppets” and “selected actors”.

In an apparent jibe at PTI Chairman Imran Khan, Bilawal said institution’s decision to remain apolitical had got “puppet” politicians worried about their future.

“The institution has accepted its mistake. But now, they [‘puppet politicians’] are worried that if the institution has become neutral, then what will become of their politics,” Bilawal told a charged crowd in Karachi during his address at a ceremony held to mark PPP’s 55th foundation day, Geo News reported.

The PPP chief’s comments came after former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa’s interview, where he said the army’s decision to become “apolitical” would help enhance its prestige in the long term.

Bilawal, who also holds the portfolio of foreign minister, vowed to thwart anti-democratic forces and said the party would continue fighting against the “enemies” of democracy. The PPP chairman said “chaos” was being spread in the country to save Imran Khan from accountability.

Bilawal said “coward” PTI Chairman Khan’s party lawmakers would not quit the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab assemblies. “If you want to resign, then go ahead. The PPP is ready to face you; PPP is not afraid of ‘puppets’ and ‘selected actors’,” he said.

Bilawal claimed Khan was “lying” when he said his party’s lawmakers would resign from both assemblies as he is notorious for going back on his words.

“Don’t you remember”, he told the crowd, “that after PTI resigned from the National Assembly and the by-polls were set to take place, they moved the courts and pleaded that their resignations were just a political stunt”.

The PTI chief — who called off his long march to Islamabad last week — announced quitting assemblies across the country as he could not be part of a “corrupt system” anymore.

Taking a jibe at Khan for cutting his long march short, Bilawal said: “He fled from Pindi. The coward beat a hasty retreat just like he did at the time of no-confidence motion.”

Bilawal paid glaring tributes to his mother, slain PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and his maternal grandfather, ex-premier Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, for their services to the country.