LAHORE: The Pakistan People’s Party has called for legal action and imposing a penalty on former prime minister Imran Khan if he doesn’t compensate for his May 9 blunder.

“PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari says that if the leader of any political party like Imran Khan doesn’t make up for his blunder, not only legal action should be initiated against him but he should also be penalised (if found guilty in the trial),” PPP chairman’s spokesperson Zulfikar Ali Badr said here on Thursday.

Talking to newsmen, he said Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has neither condemned the May 9 incidents in unequivocal terms nor feels ashamed at what he and his party did to the country on the ill-fated day.

He recalled that the PTI had initiated its ‘terrorism’ by setting ablaze vehicles and trees in a ‘teaser’ in Islamabad last year, while the whole drama was enacted on May 9 as Imran had allegedly been working on the agenda for a year.

Mr Badr alleged that since his ouster from power through a vote of no-confidence, the former prime minister had been attempting to lead the country towards economic default, political instability, diplomatic isolation during this period, whereas Mr Bilawal deserves to be given the credit of normalising ties with all important countries.

Referring to pre-arrest bails being given to the PTI chairman in NAB cases, he said since the establishment of the National Accountability Bureau, no accused had been given this facility except Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi in a ‘special treatment’ by the judiciary.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2023