Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday claimed that his father and former president Asif Zardari was arrested so that the federal government could “rig the annual budget”.
Taking to Twitter, the PPP chairman reflected on the current political scenario involving the issuance of production orders for numerous under-arrest politicians, including Zardari.
Bilawal tweeted: “Despite 1yr of cooperation, no flight risk & no conviction President Zardari has been arrested so govt can rig budget. People of Nawabshah deprived of their right to be represented in the budget process. First time in the history of Pakistan 4 members arrested & not produced for NA.”
“I must appreciate MQM for speaking up for democratic constitutional right regardless of political differences. On the floor of the house yesterday they demanded the production order of President Zardari. Innocent until proven guilty is a right, not a privilege,” Bilawal added.
Earlier in the day, members of the opposition and government coalition parties on Wednesday signed a petition for the issuance of former president Asif Ali Zardari’s production order.
According to sources, at the request of the PPP, members of the government coalition parties signed the petition. The petition was signed by Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Syed Aminul Haque, Balochistan National Party Chairman Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Balochistan Awami Party’s Khalid Magsi and Jamhoori Watan Party’s Shahzain Bugti, sources added.
Sources further said that members of the government coalition parties said it is not about PPP Co-chairman Zardari but about the supremacy of democracy.
On June 10, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Zardari in the fake bank accounts case from Islamabad after a bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had rejected a plea filed by Zardari and his sister, Faryal Talpur, seeking an extension in their interim bail in the fake bank accounts case.
According to sources, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday issued directives for not issuing production orders for any member of the National Assembly, including Zardari.
The prime minister issued the directives during a meeting he presided of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and coalition parties.
Addressing the participants, he termed members of the opposition “thieves, robbers”, saying that nowhere in the world criminals came to the parliament on productions orders to deliver speeches against the prime minister or the government.