Senior journalist Asha’ar Rehman has said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief and heir of the late former prime ministers (PM) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto’s political dynasty, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, wants to overthrow the PM Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, but doesn’t really know how to.
In his column for Dawn, Rehman wrote:
“Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has his task cut out for him. In Lahore, on one of his ‘I am around’ visits, he made no secret of his express desire to get rid of the Imran Khan setup. Only he did not know the objective could be achieved. The resultant frustration had him asking the journalists he came across in the most imaginative old Punjab capital about ways and means to dislodge the target. Seriously? Is it the journalists’ job to decide who should stay in power and who should be removed and how?”
He went on to say that the PPP chief “was on a planet of his own” and thought he was justified in exploring avenues that would fast-track the “unwanted PM and his equally suspect team out of power”.
“He [Bilawal] does hasten to add that his methods will ultimately have to be within the democratic ambit, but besides this, the PPP chairman has little by way of a plan which will free his countrymen from the yoke of the current rulers,” Rehman stated.
Adventurous, unprofessional souls among journalists who might be enticed to advise Bilawal on ways and means to remove this government might be inclined to suggest an opposition alliance, he wrote, adding that the pundits insist that so long as a comprehensive alliance is missing, PM Imran “has no one to fear — not himself”.
“Obviously, this is one reality that BBZ [Bilawal] or his guru in practical politics, Asif Ali Zardari, would be aware of. Then why would the PPP chairman try and act so frank at the risk of sounding so empty?” Rehman stated further as he wrote about the PPP’s failure to make up its mind regarding the alliances it should or should not form in order to survive outside Sindh and send the PTI government packing.
The write-up by the veteran journalist comes after Bilawal, while speaking to a group of senior media persons on Wednesday, made it clear that his party would not become part of any undemocratic move to oust the PTI government.
Bilawal had said he would continue to fight economic injustices in the country, and expressed hope that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif would soon return and play his part as the opposition leader.
He had maintained that “elected, not selected, representatives” could resolve issues of the people, and the PPP would continue to highlight the “economic slaughter of the poor” under the PTI government.
