PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday told DawnNews that his party will not tolerate any "technocratic or national government setup."

During an interview, Bilawal was quick to add that he also did not think such [a political set-up] was possible in the current circumstances.

"The PML-N is misleading [the nation in this regard]. They are overplaying [their hand] and they may be trying to provoke it," he commented.

He also accused ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif of taking certain controversial steps during his tenure which, Bilawal said, "have harmed the essence of democracy."

"We cannot support unconstitutional steps. PPP has always been pro-people. Our founding principle is that people are the source of power," he said, adding that the issue is that "people are either with democracy or with corruption; being the grandson of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and son of Benazir Bhutto, I will be siding with democracy."

'Youth will vote for PPP, not PTI'

During the interview, Bilawal also rejected the perception that the PTI has captured the votes of the youth, who represent 44 per cent of the total electoral vote. He claimed instead that it was the PPP which actually got more votes from the youth than the PTI.

The PTI has only been encashing popular slogans, he said, warning that: "these popular slogans will benefit PTI only in the short-term, but not in the longer run."

The PTI's anti-corruption slogans are only being used for political re-engineering, he further said, recalling that Zulfikar Bhutto was the first leader who had run a campaign against corruption.

When asked about his own mode of politics, the PPP chairman said: "Unfortunately, politicians across the world are playing a dangerous game. They do the politics of hatred, but I do not want to engage in such politics."

He also rejected the impression that the PPP was on a downward spiral; instead, he said, "I am hopeful that PPP will regain its space."

'Selective accountability will not work'

Commenting on the corruption charges against PPP lawmakers, Bilawal warned that the method of 'selective accountability' will not work.

“Our party members were picked in a polarised manner and the motives were politically motivated,” he alleged.

They were picked without law enforcers having any substantial pieces of evidence against them, Bilawal further alleged.

‘It is too ridiculous'

"It is too ridiculous," he said when asked about the allegations that the party had shown leniency in the Benazir Bhutto murder case and the allegations that Asif Ali Zardari was somehow involved in the murder.

"She was my mother. How is it possible that other people are more concerned than me in this regard. The party made a headway in connection with the BB murder case."

"I want to use my rage constructively. Even when my mother was killed I had said that democracy will be our revenge," he said while responding to a question.

Current challenges

"It is right to say that we are facing issues of governance but we have been trying to address them," he said.

Elaborating his viewpoint, he said that the devolution of power to provinces under the 18th Constitutional Amendment has recently taken place.

"The real issue is the domain, capacity, and resources," he said, adding that during the last four years, the Sindh government has progressed in several sectors, particularly in education and health.

Responding to a question, he said the focus of their party-led government has always been on the economy.

"The PPP believes it will have to deliver in both public and private sectors," he said, while observing that it takes 300 days to establish a business in Pakistan, while in the west the period is just 15 days.

Talking about foreign policy, Bilawal agreed that politicians had abandoned their role in devising a foreign policy for the country. He also criticised the PML-N-led federal government for their failure to appoint a foreign minister during the first four years of their government.