Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday advised Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to hand over his resignation himself.
While addressing a press conference, he expressed that running parliament was not the same as a cricket match, as the House was getting attacked from the inside. He said that to cancel the sessions of the standing committee was tantamount to an attack on parliament. A day prior, a notification from the National Assembly Secretariat had stated that Speaker Asad Qaiser suspended the standing committees’ meetings and advised that they be called during the NA sessions. The NA Secretariat notification had cited austerity as the reason behind its move. Sources, on the other hand, revealed that the suspension was announced due to the members of the National Assembly (MNAs) in custody as they attended standing committees’ sessions on the basis of production orders. Bilawal went on to say that the speaker could not put such restrictions on them. If parliament was run in a manner similar to how it was at the moment, the opposition would soon be out of options, Bilawal warned. “The speaker needs to immediately rescind his order.” He asserted that they want to elect a new Senate chairman after reaching a consensus with the opposition. “If a joint candidate gets elected then it will be a win for us,” he added.
He further said that the opposition had elected Sanjrani with consensus but the situation was different now. “Now someone else has the opposition and the government,” he continued. “He, himself, should give in his resignation.”
PPP chairman says anti-people budget was approved due to rigging in the House
Bilawal expressed that the economic situation of Pakistan was just getting worse with each passing day. “We even offered to cooperate on the economic situation but it was not considered,” he maintained. He added that the anti-people budget was approved due to rigging in the House. While talking about the alleged video of the accountability court judge, he said that the high court should look into the matter and decide if the verdict was given under pressure.
The PPP chairman complained that the freedom of press had become ‘non-existent’ under the incumbent government, which he criticised as being “led by a fascist party”.
“I heard last night that three TV channels … had been pulled off-air without any notice or due process. This is an absolutely obnoxious and outrageous attack on the freedom of the press.”
“[The media and journalists] are being pressurised. Journalists are being forced to compromise on their personal freedom,” he said, adding, “Journalists cannot express their views freely in newspapers, and they cannot tweet on their Twitter accounts. If they [dare to] do so, their Twitter accounts will be shut.” “I have already said, also on the floor of the National Assembly, that censorship does not resolve issues. Once again, the frustration you are suppressing today will find a way out one day in one way or another and it will have negative consequences,” he warned.
