LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has ruled out talks with the government at least until Imran Khan is holding the office of the prime minister.

“As far as a puppet is working as the prime minister how can dialogue be held (with the government),” he told the media here on Tuesday outside the Kot Lakhpat jail, where he had gone to condole with incarcerated PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif the demise of the latter’s mother.

He said as he could not meet Mr Sharif when he was on parole for the burial of Shamim Begum he decided to visit him in the jail for offering condolence. Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Senator Sherry Rehman and Qamar Zaman Kaira accompanied the PPP chairman.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari told a questioner that they could not accept national dialogue offer by the National Assembly speaker who won’t allow the opposition to talk in the house.

“There are puppets in this government — from the speaker of the assembly to the chief minister Punjab. We cannot have dialogue with the puppets. When the leader of opposition is not allowed to talk on the floor of the house then what national dialogue the government is talking about.”

To a query, the PPP leader said resignations of the lawmakers would impact the government ‘like the atom bomb’ and the same would be tendered in accordance with the strategy to be set by the PDM.

“The resignations have to be submitted to the party leadership by Dec 31 and these resignations are our atom bomb which we will use from the platform of PDM.”

He negated the impression of rifts among the PDM ranks and said all the parties were united against this ‘incapable’, ‘fake’ and ‘illegitimate’ government of Imran Khan.

He said this ‘selected’ prime minister and his government doesn’t have the courage to hear the truth. This is probably the only government in the world in which current and former leaders of opposition, namely Shehbaz Sharif and Khursheed Ahmed Shah, respectively, were languishing in prison without any conviction, he said.

Recalling that President Zardari had been kept in prison for 12 years without any conviction, he termed the policy against democracy and human rights and said this was the reason the democracy had not progressed in this country.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari said the message for Imran Khan was loud and clear that he should resign.

“We will go to every nook and corner of Punjab and the country to mobilise people against this selected government. The mobilisation is increasing by the day.”

He lamented that Pakistani economy was worse than Afghanistan today and in this situation Imran Khan would have to resign. Imran Khan has made institutions disputed.

“This selected prime minister makes a hue and cry about corruption but the entire corrupt are in his cabinet. The thieves of sugar, flour, K-electric, Malam Jabba, BRT etc., are with him. Imran Khan is protecting them. Funds from Israel and India are in the foreign funding case against Imran Khan,” he alleged.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2020