'Deflecting my challenge won't work': Bilawal says ready for debate with Nawaz

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday requested the former premier and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif to inform him when and where Nawaz Sharif wishes to debate. He added that he was prepared for “any debate and scrutiny” with the PML-N supremo saying that “deflecting” from his challenge will not work.

“Please tell me the time and place Mian sahib would like to debate,” the former foreign minister said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Bilawal, who is also the PPP’s candidate for prime minister’s office, on Friday, took to the social media platform, X, and dared Nawaz Sharif for a debate anywhere before February 8 to provide voters with crucial insights into their plans. “I invite the PM candidate of PMLN Nawaz Sharif, to engage in a debate with me anytime, anywhere before Feb 8,” Bilawal said in an X post.

He further said globally, presidential and prime ministerial candidates participate in televised debates, providing voters with crucial insights into their plans. “This transparency is vital for an informed electorate ahead of the voting process,” Bilawal further said.

Shehbaz Sharif, the head of the PML-N, had responded to Bilawal’s challenge when he claimed that Nawaz would have been better invited to an inspection of Sindh by the “gentlemen” rather than a discussion.

Subsequently, Bilawal demanded the “city and on which date your brother wants to debate”.

The ex-foreign minister suggested three locations for the debate with Nawaz today: Gambat in Khairpur, Tharparkar, and the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases in Karachi.

“Mian Nawaz Sharif can debate with me in Gambat, Khairpur. He can come and visit the Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences, a hospital that surpasses any hospital in Punjab, and where all treatment is absolutely free,” Bilawal said.

He asserted that Nawaz had never once visited Gambat, even though he had served as prime minister three times.

“Or perhaps he would prefer to come to Tharparkar, where we can also inspect the infrastructure, and compare Thar with Cholistan. The coal project in Thar, which you and your brother opposed, is providing cheap electricity not to Karachi, but to Faisalabad,” he said.

Bilawal has been targeting the PML-N leadership, particularly Nawaz Sharif in his election campaign while the PML-N leaders criticising the PPP over its “poor performance” in Sindh, where the party has been ruling for over 15 years.