Bilawal invites PTI for talks again

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari once again invited the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and other opposition parties to engage in dialogue, saying he would personally ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to lift the state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) if political conditions were created that made it unnecessary.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Wednesday, Bilawal said, “Even today, I invite you to come and hold talks with the government and other political parties to create conditions in which there will be no need for this emergency in KP. If you create these political conditions, I will personally stand in this House and request the prime minister to end the emergency.”

He acknowledged the opposition’s right to criticise and oppose the decision but argued that the PTI could not deny its role in creating the political, legal and constitutional circumstances that led to the proclamation of emergency.

Bilawal alleged that the PTI, particularly the KP chief minister, had contributed to the situation that prompted the federal government and President Asif Ali Zardari to take the emergency-related measures. He criticised the chief minister’s public statements on terrorism, alleging that he had indicated that the federal government should fight terrorism while the provincial government would not participate.

The PPP chairman accused the PTI of carrying out a “political suicide attack” on its own provincial government. He said responsible opposition leaders understood the situation, even if they were reluctant to acknowledge it publicly. If the federal government believed KP was facing war-like conditions and that the provincial administration was unable to respond effectively to terrorism, he argued, the provincial government should have presented political, legal or constitutional grounds to counter the action.

He said that when the proposal was initially presented to the president and the PPP, his party had urged the government to engage the PTI and other opposition parties before resorting to what he described as a “constitutional atom bomb.” The objective, he explained, was to address allegations that the provincial government was not cooperating in the fight against terrorism and remove any legal, constitutional or political justification for imposing emergency measures.

He acknowledged that the PPP and other political parties shared responsibility for the shrinking political space but maintained that the PTI also had to accept its share of responsibility. Referring to the security situation, Bilawal said KP was the province most severely affected by terrorism, while tensions with Afghanistan had created additional challenges.

He criticised the provincial chief minister for allegedly taking an oath from supporters not to cooperate with the federal government’s counterterrorism efforts.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026