ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari Wednesday said that Pakistan is facing a “perfect storm” of crises as the country battles with worsening political, economic and security issues.
Speaking during an interview with The Daily Show, Bilawal said: “Unfortunately, Pakistan is facing a perfect storm. Not only do we have heightened partisanship and political polari-sation, to the extent that political parties or political stakeholders aren’t even in a position to sit in a room and discuss issues amongst themselves, we’re also facing an economic cri-sis.”
As the country faces a security threat and crisis following the Afghan government’s fall, he said, it is also suffering from the increasing frequency of terrorist attacks and reeling from the aftermath of the biggest climate catastrophe in history.
The minister, when responding to a question about the ongoing unrest in Pakistan — ow-ing to the imminent arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan — said that while the country deals with the chaos and simultaneous crises, the PTI chief believes the country’s law doesn’t apply to him.
Heavy police force reached Zaman Park — Khan’s residence in Lahore — in the early hours of Wednesday after Islamabad police failed to arrest him amid fierce clashes between the PTI workers and the anti-riot force in and around the party chief’s residence that left dozens of activists and police personnel injured since Tuesday.
“He’s resigned from parliament and run away from the system. In this particular instance, it’s not a question of me wanting to arrest Mr Khan […] I would never want any politician in my country or any country to go to jail for political reasons. In Mr Khan’s case, he’s un-der the threat of arrest because of his ego,” the minister said, adding that the former prime minister thinks he’s “too important and won’t turn up to the court”. -Agencies
