ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has termed the Supreme Court (SC) order ‘a verdict at gunpoint,’ saying although his party is trying to develop consensus on elections among the political leadership, but “it would be a futile effort if it is carried out with a gun to your head”.
While addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reiterated the demand for simultaneous elections in the country, saying the ruling parties will consider the court order based on the 3-2 ratio as “a verdict at gunpoint.”
He added that they considered the minority’s verdict as the ruling at gunpoint and expressed fear for the continuity of democracy and the federation if stakeholders fail to find a solution to the issues.
“چند عناصر کی ضد کی وجہ سے اگر زبردستی صوبہ پنجاب میں انتخابات پہلے کروائیں جائیں گے تو اس کے نتائج کا اثر باقی تمام صوبوں پر ہوگا۔”
چیئرمین پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی اور وزیر خارجہ بلاول بھٹو زرداری@BBhuttoZardari
1/4 pic.twitter.com/KV62rj7UW5— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) April 20, 2023
He admitted that the elections should be held on time but the circumstances are different today. He claimed that the violation of the 90-day deadline was not committed by the government but someone else was involved in it.
The foreign minister made these comments as Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial requested political leaders to hold negotiations earlier in the day after the Supreme Court resumed hearing a petition seeking to hold general elections for all national and provincial assemblies simultaneously across the country.
The CJP said that there could be no obstinacy in negotiations and that consensus could be built through bilateral talks.
The top judge requested that leaders of political parties meet today and negotiate, rather than after Eid. He further said that elections could be held in July after Eid.
The hearing was then adjourned till 4 pm. However, as expected, no dialogue took place between the highly-polarised political parties.
Subsequently, the hearing was adjourned till April 27 as the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan and PPP lawyer Farooq H Naek met Justice Bandial in his chamber, seeking more time to hold dialogue with the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to evolve consensus on the matter.
“We know that consensus on some matters would be difficult. We are facing difficulties to appease our coalition partners if ‘panchayat’ is constituted in some other institution. We agree on the stance of the coalition partners and dialogues will not be held at gunpoint,” he said.
The PPP chairman said that his political party announced its stance before the nation regarding the conspiracy for forcedly organising elections in Punjab.
“The PPP has been making endeavors to convince the allied parties to take forward this process and our effort is to save democracy and the federation.”
The foreign minister, however, said it will be difficult for PPP to convince the allied parties to hold dialogue with the opponents until and unless the court order of holding elections in Punjab on May 14 was taken back.
He said holding elections in one province at this point in time will impact the results of elections in other three provinces.
“We support the idea of holding the elections on one day across the country,” he added.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the coalition parties were standing firm in backing the decisions taken on the platform of the Parliament.
Responding to a question, Bilawal said he will represent Pakistan at the foreign ministers meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to be held in India next month.
He said, “We are committed to the SCO charter and this visit should not be seen as a bilateral one but in the context of the SCO.”
