Imran Khan knew about his defeat from outset: Bilawal

ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday said that Prime Minister Imran Khan is running away from the no-confidence motion as he already knew about his defeat from the outset.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Bilawal said that the "captain who knows that he is going to win never runs away from the game."

“The speaker of the National Assembly did not hold the session 14 days after the requisition was passed,” said the chairman, adding that the Constitution of Pakistan says the NA speaker should hold a session after 14 days.

“According to the rules, the voting on the no-confidence motion should take place after seven days of its submission just like it was done during Shaheed Benazir Bhutto's time,” said Bilawal.

The chairman said the prime minister is running away from the motion but “we will not allow him to play with the future of our country.”

He went on to criticise the PM, saying that he has "violated the Constitution of Pakistan", and that the NA speaker failed to follow the rules.

Bilawal said that the Bar Council has presented a petition before the Supreme Court which did not include the names of political parties. However, the chief justice of Pakistan still issued notices to us.

He said the government considers itself to be above the Constitution, laws and rules. “However, there is an institution in the country that is ready to protect our constitutional rights, democratic rights, our votes, and the parliamentarians."

Bilawal said that he will reveal the PM’s "propaganda." adding that "he [PM Imran Khan] is trying to build a narrative that is based on fiction."

Talking about the Parliament Lodges incident, Bilawal said the government initiated it by attacking the parliamentarians and their lodges before arresting them. “When the MNAs moved to the Sindh House after the Parliamentary Lodges incident, the PM started a propaganda against them,” he added.

The chairman challenged the premier, saying that the PPP had accused the PTI of rigging the politics by providing proof to the court.

He added that PM Imran does not have any evidence of wrongdoing against the Opposition and so he is running a propaganda-based campaign.

Referring to PM Imran Khan's speech in Malakand today when he told his dissident MNAs that people will not forgive them if they become turncoats, Bilawal said: “How can you say that the nation will punish the leaders who vote against you? The nation is not in favour of you."

The PPP chairman went on to say that the prime minister has lost the by-elections and local body elections during the last three years. “The nation has always rejected the premier’s fake mandate and it hates the economic policy presented by him. The nation also rejects the PM’s facilitators,” added Bilawal.

Criticising the PM for the country’s deteriorating economy, the PPP chairman said the nation is suffering due to the imposition of heavy taxes, unemployment and poverty. “People who are going against PM Khan will have their names added to history for standing with democracy and the Constitution and they will always be remembered for that,” said Bilawal.

Bilawal further said that the PTI-led government is approaching its end and it will have to give an account of the economic policy and its corruption in the foreign funding case.

“The government has used Islam and the Riyasat-e-Madina narrative to destroy the country,” he said while calling the premier a “foreign-funded agent” who has been planted in Pakistan's political system.

Bilawal said that PM Imran Khan has destroyed the economy, sabotaged the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). “The PM has been tasked to run campaigns for India’s PM Narendra Modi and to follow former president Parvez Musharraf’s three-point agenda.”

The chairman also demanded to take notice of the PM's social media team and the campaigns run by the ministers, adding that "the PM is trying to make the institutions controversial."