BAGH: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said the system has failed, calling for free and fair elections in Azad Kashmir and urging the government to resolve political issues through dialogue.
Bilawal urged the government and political forces to avoid confrontation, saying the country needed unity and consensus instead of political infighting. “This is not the time to fight among ourselves; there is a need for unity and consensus,” he said while addressing a public gathering in Bagh, Azad Kashmir.
He said the government should not fight with the people or its allies, saying that a particular faction within the PML-N wanted to create a rift between the prime minister and his coalition partners.
“They are also pitting the prime minister against his allies,” Bilawal said, adding the intentions of some people surrounding the prime minister were not clear. He said the PPP had no complaint against the prime minister.
“If the PPP were in opposition, they would know what it means,” Bilawal said, adding that the party had no hesitation in performing its role as an opposition force.
Speaking about the creation of new provinces, Bilawal said the PPP supported public opinion on the matter. He said new provinces should be created wherever there was public support for them. “Consensus has been reached in Punjab and the Senate regarding new provinces,” Bilawal said.
Bilawal said all political and national issues could be resolved through dialogue. “All problems can be resolved through dialogue,” he said, adding that every Pakistani and Kashmiri was worried about the current situation. He also questioned the prolonged suspension of internet services, saying it had never happened anywhere that the internet remained shut down for 50 days.
Bilawal said the PPP would continue to stand with the people and would fight for their rights. He also said the people of Azad Kashmir would be provided with their right to ownership and right to employment. Meanwhile, Bilawal said the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution seeking constitutional rights, stressing that the rights of the people should be respected.
Talking about current situation in Azad Kashmir, Bilawal said the crisis there was the biggest example of the system’s failure. “I promise the people of Azad Kashmir that I will get the stolen seats back,” he said, adding that if the system had collapsed, there would also be a solution.
Bilawal said the PPP wanted peace to be restored in Azad Kashmir so that ordinary people could return to their normal lives. He said the government was neither ready to hold transparent elections nor establish a commission to address the situation.
He alleged that holding elections in phases was aimed at ‘facilitating rigging’, demanding transparent polls in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and the formation of a truth commission.
He said the purpose of phased elections was to create opportunities for rigging and questioned whether those responsible were ready to establish a truth commission or hold transparent elections.
“Why were elections not held in a free and fair manner in any phase?” Bhutto-Zardari asked, saying Kashmir was one unit and elections should also be held at the same time. He said there had never been a practice of conducting elections in six phases.
He claimed that the president of Azad Kashmir and an elected MNA had been attacked in Muzaffarabad, saying the PPP had stood with the people in the past and continued to stand with them. “The people of Kashmir will decide Kashmir’s future,” Bilawal said.