Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has proposed that all politicians should unite around a “Charter of Reconciliation” as he accused them of playing with the cash-strapped country’s fate because of their egos, media reports said on Monday.
Bilawal, a former foreign minister, was speaking at a public gathering on Sunday in the Larkana district of the Sindh province of Pakistan to mark the 45th death anniversary of PPP founder and his grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Former Pakistan prime minister Bhutto, 51, was executed by the military regime in 1979. Bilawal emphasised the necessity for political figures to unite around a ‘Charter of Reconciliation’, as he urged them to engage in constructive political dialogue at the table, The Business Recorder newspaper reported. He urged politicians to have a political dialogue to improve the country’s system, democracy, and institutions through amendments.
Asserting that political stability can only be achieved through the ‘Charter of Democracy’ and ‘Charter of Reconciliation’, he said that the PPP will be at its forefront, the Dawn newspaper reported.
“Rather than playing dharna-dharna, we should sit on the table and have a political dialogue to bring improvement in our system, democracy, and institutions through amendments,” he said.
Bilawal also said certain politicians are driven by personal ego and are willing to jeopardise the nation for their own gain, in an apparent reference to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, who has been accusing the current government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of stealing the mandate of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in the February 8 general elections. Warning of the looming threat of military intervention if politicians failed to prioritise national reconciliation and persisted in trading insults, he cautioned against the detrimental consequences, according to The Express Tribune newspaper. “It won’t foster Pakistan’s development or strengthen its economy; rather, it will only undermine democracy and harm the people,” Bilawal was quoted as saying.
Underscoring the necessity for judicial reforms, he noted that 90 per cent of the Charter of Democracy points had been accomplished, with only the remaining 10 per cent about the judiciary.
