Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto met Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz at the PML-N stronghold Jati Umra, wherein they discussed the strategy for the 11-party anti-government alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), for the upcoming Senate elections.
Both the leaders have discussed the ongoing political situation in the country and strategy for upcoming Senate elections. They also deliberated upon the future agenda of their campaign against the government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Bilawal said at a press conference after the meeting.
On this occasion, former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Makhdoom Ahmed Mahmood, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Chaudhry Manzoor and Hassan Murtaza were also present.
PML-N leaders Rana Sanaullah, Pervaiz Rashid and Khawaja Saad Rafique were also in attendance.
PPP leaders such as Bilawal and former premier Yousaf Raza Gillani have recently stated that they believe the establishment to be neutral, while PDM President Fazlur Rehman has opined the opposite.
“Our short-term goal is to remove this puppet government from power and our long-term goal is to establish democracy and rule of law in Pakistan,” said Bilawal to media persons, echoing his statements from a press conference held in Lahore the day before.
Talking about the PDM’s long march scheduled for next month, he said, “Protest is a democratic right bestowed to us by the constitution and implementing it is also democratic.”
“Every elected government should complete its five-year term. But when a government is selected and chosen by non-democratic elements, then it should be removed as soon as possible,” the PPP chairman maintained.
The PML-N VP, during the presser, took the middle ground. When asked about her perspective on the purported neutrality of the establishment, Maryam did not declare her stance outright, and merely said that the establishment is not part of the political spectrum up and until it starts interfering in political matters.
“It is best for the country that the establishment remains neutral and stay within its constitutional limits,” she said in reply to a query about the so-called pressure being placed on the opposition.
Commenting on the matter of open balloting in Senate polls, the PML-N VP said, “Issues falling within the purview of parliament must be decided in parliament. Dragging the courts in the discourse is going against the legislative procedure.”
She further added that Gillani was not representing only PPP in Senate elections, rather the whole of PDM.
A day earlier, Bilawal had said, “Yousuf Raza Gillani’s win will usher in a new chapter of democracy”.
He had thanked the other parties of the alliance for placing their faith in the senior PPP leader during yesterday’s presser, adding that the PDM’s Inflation March would take place at the end of next month.
“Yousuf Raza Gillani (when he was premier) would respond to questions from the government and opposition, come to the parliament, give everyone respect […] because you are the leader of the entire House, not your own political party,” he had said, adding that the opus was now on the voters to decide upon a candidate that would assure the betterment of the country.
“This is a test for the members of our assembly. Will you vote according to the people’s expectations or out of fear of Imran Khan?” Bilawal had asked.
The PPP chairman had said that PDM had been “working against the illegitimate, incompetent and unqualified government from day one”.
