Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto appeared on BBC Urdu for an exclusive interview on October 24 in which he talked about the recent 26th Amendments and the controversies revolving around it.
Journalist Farhat Javed asked the PPP Chairman about the government’s insistence on passing the amendments before October 25, to which he replied: “We did have a window because we’ve seen how other judges have moulded the constitution whether it’s Article 63A or the Reserved Seats’ case to serve their personal interests. And then, on the other hand, we had a Chief Justice [Qazi Faez Isa] who could withstand pressure from fellow judges that may try to instigate him… We had a window [before Oct 25] because this man wouldn’t try to undermine what we were doing. It wasn’t possible to do such a significant thing with the presence of any other Chief Justice.”
The journalist asked Bilawal if Justice Mansoor had been the Chief Justice, then the amendments couldn’t have been passed. Bilawal replied: “This is our stated position that the Reserved Seats’ verdict was specifically orchestrated to undermine the strength of Parliament. The verdict on Article 63A was not based on the constitution but political motives.”
Speaking about the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) claims about the illegitimacy of the current government, Bilawal remarked, “Which Assembly has had legitimacy in the past? When we came in 2008, did we not protest that our mandate and 2/3rd majority had been stolen from us? Even then we made constitutional amendments. When Zia ul Haq made constitutional amendments, they were legitimised by the superior courts. PTI calls us Form 47, and we call them Selected.”
Speaking on the allegations of the establishment’s pressure on PPP to pass the amendments, Bilawal stated: “These claims are lies. I have worked for the Charter of Democracy. I have done these amendments because of my mother.”
Farhat Javed then asked the PPP Chairman what has he done to end the violence and victimization cycle in Pakistan’s politics. Bilawal sternly replied: “What have I not done to end this cycle? When my father’s neck and tongue were slit, when he was imprisoned for more than 11 years, did we do the same things to the opposition when we came into power? No, we did not. PPP, not anyone else, ended this cycle. This cycle ended in 2008 in Pakistan’s history. Who broke the cycle? Imran Khan Niazi. He used to call it ‘muk mukaa’ or ‘Jail is for punishment, not vacations’, and he is bearing the consequences for what he did. If the [violence] cycle needs to end, then he [Imran Khan] has to do it. And he is in no mood to end the cycle, so it will keep on going.”
“Do you expect someone who has been involved in the incarceration of your father, the torture of your mother and the torture of three generations of your family? I vould have taken revenge for blood. But I say that democracy is the best revenge for them,” concluded Bilawal.
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