KARACHI — Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Friday the then Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa had offered to hold general elections if the opposition parties withdraw the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Speaking to the media during a visit to a public park in Karachi, Bilawal said that General Bajwa made this offer two days before voting on the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan.
The former foreign minister said that Gen Bajwa had explicitly said he would remain neutral in voting on the no-confidence motion.
Bilawal’s statement, however, contradicts the narrative of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which has consistently accused the former army chief of colluding with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to overthrow PTI government.
In February this year, PTI chief Imran Khan said that Gen Bajwa admitted in a statement to a journalist that he brought down the PTI government. Khan insisted that there should be an inquiry into the matter within the army.
“اٹھارویں ترمیم نے وہ تمام راستے بند کردیئے ہیں جو جمہوریت کو نقصان پہنچا سکتے تھے۔”
چیئرمین پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری @BBhuttoZardari pic.twitter.com/iOg5aXsx1V
— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) November 10, 2023
At today’s press conference, Bilawal drew parallels with the 2008 elections, suggesting that defectors would face consequences in the upcoming elections. He said that a king’s party is created before every election in Pakistan, but the PPP would defeat the new king’s party in the February 8 general elections like it did in the 2008 general elections.
Commenting on the potential electoral alliance between Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Bilawal said this alliance would benefit the PPP rather than doing any political harm to it.
