PPP won’t support govt’s legislation on Jadhav: Bilawal Bhutto

Islamabad: Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Thursday said that PPP will not support the government’s legislation that is being brought to facilitate Kulbhushan Jadhav.

Talking to media representatives at the Parliament House Islamabad, he said the government brought the bill in the darkness of the night for this individual.

“Now, they are bringing this bill to the assembly. We will oppose this bill because we were not taken into confidence. PPP will not become a party in facilitating Kulbhushan Jadhav. If Imran Khan wants to facilitate him, he can do so. However, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and PPP will not support it,” he said.

Responding to a question about the shortage of gas in Sindh, Chairman Bilawal said that the crisis of energy sector which is looming on Pakistan will have to be borne by the common people of Pakistan. It is a very unfortunate situation as it was avoidable but because of the failure of the government, the common people will have to suffer.

The PPP always fights for its rights and we think that production orders of every member should be issued for the budget session. No one can be stopped from representing their constituency. Due to the continued incarceration of Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, the people of Sukkur are deprived of their representation. If the speaker does not fulfil his responsibility, then you are sending a message that the members will not be able to exercise their right, be it stopping the budget or casting teir cote for the no confidence motion. This is a very disputed and anti-people budget, if the House is not complete and there is no representation of Waziristan and Sukkur, then as we say, the entire budget process is illegal.

The speaker should take note of the decision of Islamabad High Court into account for issuing production orders of Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah. The opposition leader has sent in writing to the speaker for the production order of Khursheed Shah. I have also sent a letter to the speaker today.

Regarding the unfortunate death of Usman Kakar, Chairman Bilawal said that we have great respect for Usman Kakar and he was an honourable colleague, we will miss him in the Parliament. We tried our best but unfortunately, we lost him. We will do according to the demands of his family and his party. The government should also address those demands.

Regarding Afghanistan, he said that he had a point in his budget speech about it, because Pakistan has been dealing with this situation since1980. Whatever happens in Afghanistan will impact the entire region and the world. We would have to face the consequences for decades for the decisions we make about Afghanistan now. This is why we demanded that the ministries and institutions which are involved in negotiations should bring the negotiation on record. PPP has a viewpoint and it should be heard. We will hear them out but the way our government and international powers are handling the situation, is not making things easy for Pakistan and Afghanistan and our coming generations. We have to address this issue. As far as giving airbases to the United States, it is up to the government, and we hope that the decisions taken will be in the interest of Pakistan. We do not trust the prime minister because he takes u-turns and we are concerned that he might take a u-turn on this as well.

Addressing  the Kashmir elections, Chairman Bilawal said that he is starting the campaign from tomorrow. About the political activities in the Punjab, he said that not only Punjab, but in th e entire Pakstan the situation for PPP is going to improve and President Zardari’s role is very important in all this. He is the only politician in the country who can unite all politicians. President Zardari had gone to Lahore to consult his doctors and we are thankful to Pervez Ilahi who visited him to enquire about his health, and whoever has ever worked with the PPP, we want to work with them. These meetings with President Zardari are only the beginning and a lot will happen in the coming days. We will keep trying to form government in the centre and every province of Pakistan. We think that we can solve the problems through a progressive manifesto of the PPP.

About the forced conversions in Sindh, Chairman Bilawal said that crimes take place everywhere, but we have to see what the response of political parties on such issues. The Pakistani community is very patriotic, and most of them live in Sindh and forced conversions are an issue for us but PPP is always at the forefront of minority, women and the rights of the downtrodden masses. It is unfortunate that the legislation on the issue is not up to the mark. Sindh is the only province which banned underage marriages. Unfortunately, some judicial decisions violate this law but we are trying to protect every citizen.

Answering a question about Manzoor Wattoo, Chairman Bilawal said that Watto says that he never left PPP so we think that we should work with everyone. The people who have always been sincere to the PPP, they will be dealt differently and we will also work with the old comrades who are coming back. PPP’s doors are open for everyone who raised the slogan of Jeay Bhutto. We want to form a progressive government in this country and for this, we will take along whoever is ready to work with us.

Regarding Shahbaz Sharif’s proposed APC, he said that we are ready to cooperate with the opposition leader on every effort to unite the opposition. The people in the government from my province were more passionate in their speeches because the PPP had defeated them badly in their cities. They are not able to tolerate their defeat. PTI used to say that Karachi is their city, we brought them down from the first to the sixth position. The PPP jiyalas badly defeated them in Matli, Badin. They will remember it for their whole life. They should take out their frustration on their own prime minister Imran Khan who did not care for them. Hence, they lost from Badin to Karachi to Kashmir. I will ask the PPP jiyalas to not adopt their language and attitude and work coolly and solve peoples’ problems.