Pakistan: Bilawal calls for 'dialogue' among politicians to drive country out of crisis

Addressing a seminar titled 'Bhutto Reference and History' in Lahore on Sunday, Bilawal said, "The people are troubled by price-hike, unemployment and poverty. In addition to these, terrorism is also an issue for the country and the people."

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has called for dialogue among the political forces in the country to resolve the issues faced by Pakistan, Geo News reported. Addressing a seminar titled 'Bhutto Reference and History' in Lahore on Sunday, Bilawal said, "The people are troubled by price-hike, unemployment and poverty. In addition to these, terrorism is also an issue for the country and the people."

"If politicians do not talk to each other, how these issues could be resolved," he added. The PPP chairman said that President Asif Ali Zardari gave a "message of reconciliation" in his address to the joint Parliament but it was "unfortunate" that the people who do not want reconciliation raised "hue and cry."

"This behaviour was not appropriate in the parliament," he added. Bilawal, has previously served as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government that was formed after Imran Khan's ouster as premier in April 2022.

This time, however, the PPP has decided to support the Shehbaz Sharif-led government from outside and not become a part of it. The former foreign minister said that his party's training was conducted by the former prime ministers Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.

"Our character should match their training and we should represent those great leaders." Further expressing his displeasure over the prevailing political culture in the country, the PPP chief said, "At the moment, we have a politics of hatred in our society. Politics has been changed to personal enmity. We in our society do not respect the difference of opinion."

"Despite all this, the PPP always believes in political negotiations and reconciliation. The 1973 constitution was the result of consensus. The 18th Amendment in the Constitution was done with consensus at the time of Asif Ali Zardari as president. We did all this by taking all political forces in the parliament on board," he further stated. Bilawal said that during the recent general elections, the PPP had an ideology, a manifesto and a campaign, adding that after the elections, every government, whether the federal government or the provincial governments, is implementing the points of the party's manifesto, Geo News reported.

"The PPP will show that we will play a positive role and we will solve people's issues. This positive role and politics will take the country forward," the PPP Chairman further said. (ANI)

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