LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is worried after the unofficial results were announced for the PS-88 byelections, while the PTI claims that the PPP used the police force to remove their candidate.
Addressing a gathering in Karachi to celebrate Yousuf Murtaza Baloch’s victory in the PS-88 Malir by-election Bilawal said that the ruling party has gone against its own members by filing the presidential reference for open polls in the Senate, and now those members of National Assembly (MNAs) from the PTI were “happily coming to PPP” and switching their affiliation.
He further said that the losers of by-elections are worried about the elections of the upper house of the parliament and the government is using the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). According to the unofficial results, PPP’s Baloch secured 24,251 votes while the runner-up Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s Syed Kashif Ali Shah who got 6,090 votes. PTI’s Jan Sher Junejo bagged 4,870 votes and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Sajid Ahmed received 2,635, respectively.
“PM Imran Khan has basically told his party workers that he doesn’t trust them,” Bilawal said on the occasion, claiming that the PTI workers were willing to give all their votes to the PPP in exchange for the chance to get tickets and become PPP candidates in the future.
“The members of the PTI were approaching the PPP as they can see the government will be sent packing,” he said. Calling this move “an admission of no-confidence” by PTI’s own members, Bilawal questioned by the ruling party had to make “backdoor deals” to ensure victory if it was so confident of its majority in the Senate.
He added that not only the secrecy of votes of MPAs was being taken away but also their right to vote according to their choice, which he called “an attack on democracy”.
Bilawal claimed that the incumbent government was using pressure tactics to “fire a gun” on the Supreme Court (SC) and the ECP. He accused the government of making “every state institution controversial”.
“Sometimes it is the Election Commission, at others the Supreme Court,” he said.
The PPP chairman boasted that whether open ballot or secret ballot, his party is ready for Senate elections but the rulers should prepare themselves as they will not allow anyone to rig the Senate polls.
Bilawal further boasted that the ruling party had hoped that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) would have made things easier for them by boycotting the elections
He also said: “PDM will also attack this government in Senate elections not only from Sindh, Punjab but also Islamabad.” On the occasion, the PPP chief reiterated that the long march would take place in March.
“We are fighting and defeating this government on every front,” he said, claiming the results, albeit unofficial, had exposed the government’s worries. He said that the lead the PPP gained that worried the “selectors” and further claimed that the PTI was losing in a similar fashion in all by-elections.
On the other hand, regarding the PS-88 elections, PTI leader and Sindh Assembly Member Khurram Sher Zaman led a delegation to register a case against firing on opposition leader Haleem Adil Sheikh and assaulting PTI workers during the aforementioned by-election.
Khurram Sher Zaman, while talking to media, stated the the people to be held accountable should be Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah or Bilawal, a PTI press release said. He asserted that the provincial police should be answerable to the people, not the rulers.
“We request the chief justice to take notice of the retaliatory actions of the PPP,” he said to media persons.
Zaman further said that CM Murad was running the government on the strength of force. The PTI leader added that they too could carry out acts of revenge in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the federation, but they have never targeted anyone for political revenge.
“No one is being allowed to meet Haleem Adil Sheikh. If anything happens to Haleem Adil Sheikh or any worker, Murad Ali Shah and Bilawal Zardari will be responsible for it,” he maintained.
“We ask Prime Minister Imran Khan how long the people of Sindh will be left at the mercy of PPP. Now it is the time for the people of Sindh to get rid of PPP,” Zaman asserted.
While the opposition leader’s status is on par with a provincial minister, Zaman claimed that PPP “thugs” tried to torture Haleem Adil Sheikh and opened fire on his car. He lamented that the police had acted impartially throughout the incident and that the arrests of PTI workers and officials from Sindh had been going on since yesterday.
The PTI leader stated that superintendent (SP) Rao Aslam has refused to register a case, terming the move an “utter injustice”.
“We have been seeing for many years that PPP has always used the police to win elections. The PPP has done the same in the Malir election,” he said on the occasion. “It is a shame for the PPP to use them for political purposes.”
“We respect the courts and are optimistic about them. We are sure that the bail of Sindh Assembly Leader Haleem Adil Sheikh will be granted on Friday,” he added.
The delegation included members of Sindh Assembly Saeed Afridi, Shehzad Qureshi, Malik Shehzad Awan, PTI leader Janshir Junejo, Faraz Lakhani, Anwar Kamal and a team of lawyers. The PTI delegation met SP Rao Aslam at Memon Goth police station.
It is interesting to note that these claims of police interference and party switching are arising merely a week after the PPP chairman vowed to use only “democratic and constitutional ways” to dislodge the government.
Bilawal had said in a press conference in Islamabad last week that the government cannot amend the constitution by bringing an ordinance to allow open balloting in Senate elections, further alleging that “attempts are now being made to rig the Senate elections by making the institutions controversial like in the 2018 elections”.
On the other hand, two weeks ago and after the PDM deadline for the government to resign had passed, the PPP chief had said the use of force is justified.
“[The] selected prime minister has failed to resign by the deadline, and the joint opposition must now force the removal of puppets,” he had said.
The people face historic, poverty, unemployment & inflation because this govt was forced on them. The joint opposition must now force the removal of puppets. PPP believes in relying on democratic tactics. Sustained joint efforts inside & outside parliament will ultimately succeed
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) January 31, 2021
