LAHORE: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari says the country is moving away from democracy and sliding towards authoritarianism and dictatorship under Imran Khan.

He said it was widely perceived that Pakistan was transitioning towards democracy – one step forward, two steps back and two steps forward, one step back. However, he said, it was now clear that during the government of Imran Khan the country was not transitioning towards democracy but away from it, towards dictatorship.

Mr Bilawal was addressing a gathering of lawyers hosted by the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) here on Thursday.

Maqsood Buttar, the bar’s president, and PPP leader Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan were among others present on the stage.

Terming the rule of law the soul of a democratic system, the PPP chief said the present ‘selected’ government went against the rule of law. He said the responsibility to protect the rule of law fell on all politicians, lawyers and judges.

He said that the trials and the witch-hunt had only strengthened the resolve of his party (PPP) to strive for a fair, just and equitable judicial system.

Stressing that Pakistan needed a fair, non-discriminatory, transparent and efficient accountability system, Bilawal said the courts had the responsibility to uphold the values of fundamental rights, fair trial and due process. “Unfortunately, very often the judiciary has failed to do so,” he added.

Remembering how the lawyers’ struggle for independence of the judiciary had inspired him in his young age, he said the struggle for the independence of judiciary was not for one judge but for the idea of democracy and a judiciary, which ran on the basis of the rule of the law.

“We have utmost respect for the judiciary but the expectations of the lawyers’ movement were not met.”

Mr Bilawal said the judiciary of Pakistan was a place for legal ideas, jurisprudence, constitutionalism, the fundamentals of human rights and dignity but not a place to decide where to ‘build a dam’ (a reference to retired Justice Saqib Nisar).

He said some judges took it upon themselves to decide which building should be demolished and which should not to be demolished.

Bilawal stated that the fate of the judiciary of Pakistan and democracy was in the hands of the lawyers community. Telling the lawyers that the PPP had decided to challenge the regime, he urged them to, once again, stand with the party as they had stood shoulder to shoulder with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his daughter Benazir Bhutto.

The PPP leader said his party decided to march on Islamabad to save democracy and the Constitution, to save the economy and the country. He said the PPP would run a campaign against the ‘selected’ government of Imran Khan with the people of Pakistan who lost faith in the prime minister.

“We will bring a no-confidence motion and democratically challenge this government,” he added.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2022