Opposition parties are 'on one page' in anti-govt effort, says Bilawal after meeting Shehbaz, Fazl

Published July 28, 2020
PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif speak to the media in Lahore. — DawnNewsTV
PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif speak to the media in Lahore. — DawnNewsTV

PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday said that all opposition parties are "on one page" in their movement against the PTI government, which he alleged has become a "hazard" for the country.

Bilawal's remarks came after he held back-to-back meetings with Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif in Lahore, ahead of the opposition's multi-party conference (MPC) scheduled to be held after Eidul Azha.

Speaking to the media with Sharif by his side after their meeting at the latter's Model Town residence, Bilawal said his party will join the PML-N in "standing up for the people of Pakistan" and devise a strategy to oust the government during the MPC.

Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif meet in Lahore. — Photo courtesy PML-N
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif meet in Lahore. — Photo courtesy PML-N

He claimed the opposition will no longer need to stage a sit-in to force Prime Minister Imran Khan's government to quit, saying: "We will reach half the way and the government will go home."

He said the "selected" government had become a hazard for the country as it was for the first time in national history that "theft is being committed in wheat flour, ghee and sugar" stocks.

Bilawal said he was "surprised" that Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi spoke about the amendment to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law in the National Assembly but does not bring up the issue of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.

He alleged that the government's NAB ordinance had "failed" and as per a recent judgement of the Supreme Court the accountability ordinance is a "black law".

In his remarks, Sharif said the opposition had "placed the responsibility on Bilawal's young shoulders" and he will lead them in the anti-government movement.

"Imran Khan and Pakistan can no longer function together," he said, alleging that the incumbent government was "nothing less than a danger" for the country.

He said opposition members were not seeking any sort of relief from the government and neither were they "begging" when they discussed a number a legislations with the government earlier today.

Sharif said the government's economic policies had failed and people were finding it difficult to put two meals on their tables due to rising food costs.

"They called us thieves and robbers day and night but today the people have understood them well," the PML-N leader said.

Sharif said a meeting of the opposition's Rehbar Committee will be held after Eid during which the agenda for the MPC will be announced.

'People's mandate was stolen'

Earlier in the day, Bilawal and other PPP leaders held a meeting with Rehman at a local hotel where they discussed the prevailing political situation and reviewed their anti-government strategy.

Speaking after their meeting, Bilawal said the government wanted to bring a "controversial" law as an excuse for meeting requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) action plan.

Bilawal in a meeting with Fazlur Rehman. — Photo provided by author
Bilawal in a meeting with Fazlur Rehman. — Photo provided by author

"The government will have to go home under the current circumstances," he said, adding that the opposition and the people were on the same page.

Rehman said his party had been saying for the past two years that the people's mandate "had been stolen" with the election of the PTI and that it should be returned to the public.

"This government will have to go [and] a government with a real mandate should come into power," he said, accusing the government of being "illegitimate" as well as "incompetent".

Last week, the PML-N and PPP had agreed to convene an MPC post-Eidul Azha for framing a joint anti-government strategy and formed a joint coordination committee to take on board other opposition parties as well as set an agenda for the moot.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between a PML-N delegation and Bilawal at his Lahore residence.

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