Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday demanded the release of all political prisoners.
In a tweet, he applauded the release of parliamentarians Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir. However, he criticised National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser for failing to issue production orders for the imprisoned MNAs. Bilawal also accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government of arresting politicians to divert attention from its failure to handle the Kashmir issue. He asked how the prime minister intends to lead the Kashmir cause if he is unable to lead the country.
Opposition parties have decried ‘political victimisation’ at the hands of Imran Khan-led government. Most recently, the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) staged a protest outside the National Assembly over the arrest of veteran PPP leader Khursheed Shah.
The lawmakers arrested by the incumbent government in different cases are former president Asif Ali Zardari, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former finance minister Miftah Ismail, former railways minister Saad Rafique, Ali Wazir, Mohsin Dawar, Rana Sanaullah, and Khursheed Shah.
Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif was also arrested last year and is currently out on bail. Other senior leaders of opposition parties including ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, PML-N vice presidents Maryam Nawaz and Hamza Shehbaz, and PPP’s Faryal Talpur are also currently imprisoned.
Meanwhile, former Senate chairman and PPP Secretary General Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari has said the leadership of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) should refrain from giving statements that the members of the APC do not agree with. PPP is in favor of holding an APC meeting before commencing the opposition’s campaign against the government, Bukhari said in a statement on Monday, adding that there is no point of criticising PPP before the senior leaderships of the parties involved have met and had a talk. He said the JUI-F leadership has been in contact with him and that they have exchanged views regarding the upcoming strategies as well as participation in the protest.
