The only umpire in Pakistan is its people: Bilawal

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressing the media here on Friday said there was only one umpire in Pakistan and that was the people.

“There is only one umpire in this country and that is the people. In a democracy and in Pakistan it is the will of the people which is followed not that of any third umpire.”

Commenting on the possibility of a presidential system and the roll back of the 18th Amendment, the PPP chairman reiterated that any such move would be resisted by his party.

“You cannot bring a presidential system through democratic means. PPP and other democratic forces of this country will reject this.”

The PPP chairman stated his party’s stance on the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), calling it a black law and an institution made by former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf for political engineering and vengeance.

“PPP thinks a new system is needed and there should be across the board accountability for all. There needs to be one system for everyone.”

Bilawal, however, did say that right now it would be impossible to bring an entirely new system. “We will try to bring this [NAB] under the rule of law as much as we can. If the government is ready for this, then we are ready to talk to them.”

According to the PPP chairman, the government till now had not shown any seriousness and had failed to even pass a bill. “They [government] have shown no interest in the Parliament or the economy,” he added.

The PPP chairman stressed the importance of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project when asked about Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Beijing to attend the One Belt One Road Forum.

“We think there should be no compromise on CEPC and we will not let this government compromise. The people of Pakistan know that this is an important project for the future of the country.”