–Bilawal says budget will have no legitimacy until the House is complete
Former president Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday asserted that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government will have to be sacked.
Speaking to the media after the budget session, the father-son duo said that the ruling party must leave the office. Zardari said that it is extremely important for the political forces to take control of the situation because if “we do not do it then other forces will”. He added that the government is not capable of calculating the impact of such a situation.
Talking about the delay in the issuance of his production order, he said that the National Assembly (NA) speaker is “weak” as he does not enjoy absolute power.
“We have a fair idea of this as we had to compel him for the issuance of the production order,” he said.
When asked about the upcoming All Parties Conference (APC) of the opposition parties, Zardari said that his party would stick to its stance.
Bilawal alleged that the government wants to “rig” the budget. He said that it would not have legitimacy until the House is complete as every member deserves a chance to represent the public.
Bilawal also said that the opposition was united in its demand for the issuance of production orders of detained lawmakers. “I secured signatures from opposition lawmakers and approached the chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee for Human Rights for the issuance of Zardari’s production order,” he said.
He said that the opposition had also requested the speaker to issue the production orders of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) lawmakers Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar, who are also under custody and are facing terrorism charges following a clash with the military in North Waziristan.
The former president was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on June 10 after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected his pre-arrest bail in the fake accounts case.