ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday claimed he was threatened to either accept early elections or face martial law, a night before the National Assembly (NA) passed the no-confidence motion against former prime minister Imran Khan
“I would like to share with this House that a night before the no-confidence motion, we were issued threat of martial law,” Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said while addressing the National Assembly.
“A minister of the previous government had delivered a threat to an associate that we should accept the proposal of immediate election or face martial law,” he revealed.
“We are not those, which believe undemocratic practices. We want free and fair election, this was our demand earlier as it is our stance now,” he said. “If not Charter of Democracy, we must have at least a code of conduct,” he said.
Bloody elections
Bilawal said the threat was an attempt to foil the no-confidence motion against the former prime minister which, was successful despite the provocations and within the parameters of the law and the Constitution.
“The PPP and the PML-N remain political rivals. The country is facing a crisis in each sector as every national institution has been made controversial. On the exit door Imran Khan has inflicted irreparable loss to democracy,” Bhutto said.
The foreign minister called for the formation of a parliamentary body to investigate the events that occurred after April 3 — when the former NA deputy speaker had dismissed the no-trust move against Imran Khan.
“We should look into these attacks seriously and form a parliamentary commission for investigation into the attacks on the constitution from April 3 till to date,” he suggested. “The former prime minister deems himself a sacred cow and roaming every nook and corner of the country,” the PPP leader said.
Parliamentary probe
Bilawal maintained that it was imperative to get to the bottom of these events in order to strengthen democracy and restore the respect of the lower house of parliament.
He called for taking all political parties on board for this basic code of conduct, warning that failure to do so would result in “bloody” elections. “There should be a minimal code of conduct for parties that are present here and those that are not. What kind of politics do you want to do?”
He stated that electoral reforms were a two-step process, where first the “undemocratic” bills and ordinances passed during the PTI government’s tenure needed to be repealed before passing new legislation.
