In Islamabad, Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday accused the leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of driving the political and constitutional crisis in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) that led to the imposition of an emergency. Speaking in the National Assembly during a debate on the emergency and Governor’s Rule in the province, he said Islamabad had tried hard to engage the opposition in dialogue before taking such an extraordinary step.
Bilawal said the Constitution allows the president to proclaim an emergency in extraordinary circumstances, citing Article 232. He called the measure the ‘last resort’ and said the government held lengthy negotiations with the opposition before turning to what he described as the ‘political atom bomb’ of emergency rule.
Federal government cites terrorism concerns in KP
Bilawal said the federal government had raised concerns that the KP government was not offering adequate cooperation in the fight against terrorism. He added that the security situation in the province meant the provincial administration could not handle the threat by itself.
Bilawal accuses PTI of a ‘political suicide attack’
Blaming the party’s provincial leadership for the circumstances behind the emergency, Bilawal said the responsible opposition leaders knew PTI had carried out a ‘political suicide attack’ on its own KP government. He said the party was now blaming the federal government and the president, even though its own leaders had helped create the crisis.
He argued that the developments in the province were largely the result of PTI’s own mistakes and policies, and that the party could not shift responsibility onto others. Bilawal also maintained that the federal government had not wanted to take such a stringent political and constitutional measure.
Faisal Vawda says PTI has fallen apart
Earlier on Tuesday, Senator Faisal Vawda claimed at a news conference in Islamabad that PTI had fallen apart and that its political show was over. He urged the party’s leaders to form a new political party or join another political platform in order to serve the country.
Vawda also criticised the PTI-led government in KP and discussed recent political developments in the province, including the emergency and Governor’s Rule.
