Elections in Pakistan halted for ‘one person’s return’: Bilawal Bhutto

KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday asserted that the general elections in Pakistan were halted for ‘one person’s return’ – in an apparent reference to PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, ARY News reported.

“The delay in general elections is not vote ki izzat (respect of vote) but vote ki beizzati (disrespect of vote),” the PPP Chairman said while addressing a public gathering related to the 16th anniversary of Karsaz tragedy in Karachi.

Bilawal Bhutto noted that the 16-month tenure of coalition government taught that Pakistan cannot be run from London. “Today, the country’s Constitution, election, and democracy were halted due to one person’s return,” he said.

Without naming anyone, the former foreign minister said: “We hope that his return to the country would be big, and also that ECP [Election Commission of Pakistan] would soon announce the election schedule.”

He expressed the urgent need for all political parties to support the demand for the immediate announcement of election schedule by election commission, saying that Pakistan can be brought back on the path of progress only via elections.

Bilawal Bhutto also said that he wants to end the politics of divide and abuse, adding that if politicians keep fighting amongst themselves, the country will not progress.

“We have to leave politics of abuses and divide behind. We need new leadership, which is not stuck in the past but thinks about the future. We don’t want 90s’ Pakistan or 2017’s Pakistan. We want today’s Pakistan,” he added.

The PPP chairman also announced that his party was kick-starting their mass contact campaign, which will demand the ECP issue election’s date. “Let the people exercise their right to vote; they will have to accept the demand of the people,” Bilawal added.

Speaking of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he said that former president Asif Ali Zardari laid the foundation of the mega project.

“He was criticised for visiting China each month. The same people who were criticising were now taking credit for CPEC,” he added.

Bilawal promised that, if elected, his party would initiate another economic corridor to create job opportunities. He stressed Pakistan’s vulnerability to climate change and the necessity to improve the country’s infrastructure through investment.

PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif reached Saudi Arabia from where he will arrive in Pakistan via Dubai on October 21 after four years of self-imposed exile.

The former premier reached Saudi Arabia for Umrah, after which he will reside in Dubai for three days and then fly to Pakistan in a chartered plane on October 21. The PML-N supremo will address a gathering at the Minar-e-Pakistan, where he will chalk out his agenda ahead of the next elections.

He will arrive in Dubai on October 17.

Moreover, the former prime minister had booked his ticket for flight to Islamabad from Dubai. The flight carrying Nawaz to Pakistan will have the name “Umeed-e-Pakistan”. The special flight will land in Islamabad from Dubai before proceeding to Lahore.