By Anzal Amin
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari held on Friday the judiciary as responsible for the current crisis on the reserved seats, saying the judiciary not only turned a storm in a teacup into a full-blown constitutional crisis but the last-minute symbol snatching benefitted a dead political party – the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The PPP chairman while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly lashed out at the higher judiciary for its decisions regarding PTI before and after the general elections, especially on the matter of reserved seats, saying the seats were being distributed amongst them as if they were “candy”.
“In Pakistan currently, a storm in a teacup is being transformed into a full-blown constitutional crisis,” the PPP chief said, “not me, not the speaker, not the members, PM or the Parliament but the judiciary itself is responsible for this crisis.” He further added that “this is a crisis of the judiciary, by the judiciary and for the judiciary.”
During his speech, the PPP chairman said that the Leader of the Opposition in NA, Omar Ayub, should be asked whether it was the ruling political parties who snatched PTI’s iconic ‘bat’ symbol. Bilawal then answered himself by saying that it was the court that stated that their internal elections were rigged which is why they could not get a symbol and would not be considered a political party.
“This last-minute decision benefitted a dead political party, with no election campaign,” Bilawal said, saying “it mobilised it [PTI].” Referring to recent clarification by the Supreme Court that this was not the intention behind depriving the PTI of bat symbol, Bilawal quipped: “A decision then was made to distribute the seats amongst them as if they are candy.”
As long as the country does not adopt the Constitution, law and a democratic demeanour, and its institutions not work within their boundaries, Bilawal maintained, the purpose behind building this city – Islamabad – and lawmakers’ presence would remain futile. “Our only advice would be for political discourse to take place to reclaim the space of politicians sans the political hatred and division,” he said.
Meanwhile, while speaking in the assembly, Bilawal said that the country was witnessing a plethora of crises, and has not been able to effectively address issues such as inflation and worsening law and order. “We are not even able to form the bare minimum consensus on protecting the country from terrorism,” he regretted.
While further regretting that “we are hurling insults at each other on the television”, Bilawal urged that we would have to devise a way to compete with each other within political domains and try to resolve the issues faced by the people.
