PTI carried out ‘political suicide attack’: Bilawal

ISLAMABAD
a government for the circumstances that led to the imposition of emergency in the province, terming it a “political suicide attack”. He made the remarks while addressing the National Assembly, which was discussing the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in KP, for which the Centre had cited the provincial government’s “deliberate disengagement” from the fight against terrorism.
The NA question hour session was suspended due to discussions on the emergency. During the session, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry tabled a motion regarding the proclamation of emergency, while Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar opened the discussion.
At the outset of the proceedings, opposition members were sitting calmly and did not stage any loud protest. Bilawal began his speech by highlighting that emergency and governor’s rule in KP were measures taken under the Constitution.
Reading the relevant provisions, Bilawal asserted that the Centre tried its best to “engage the opposition so this step did not have to be taken”. “They will have to accept, even if not publicly, but the responsible leadership of the opposition knows that the PTI itself carried out a political suicide attack on its KP government,” he remarked.
The PPP chief maintained that the PTI could not deny that its “leadership, particularly in the province had a key role in the political, constitutional and legal circumstances” at present. Bilawal emphasised that the PPP’s stance was that “before employing this constitutional atomic bomb, we must engage with PTI and the opposition and try to address the federal government’s reservations that they were not supporting them in the war against terrorism”.
He observed: “If political space is restricted for one political party, it is impossible that it remains restricted for that particular party; it is limited for every political party, political worker and Pakistani citizen. “We are responsible for this, but you cannot deny that you are also responsible for it,” he said.
Terming the imposition of emergency a “difficult decision”, Bilawal recalled alleged remarks by Sohail Afridi — the KP chief minister whose role is now non-functional — that he would not combat terrorism the way the Centre wanted.