KARACHI: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has continued with his criticism of his political rivals, the Sharifs, calling them vindictive and questioning their ability to fix the economy.

In an interview with DawnNewsTV programme News Eye, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said: “They [PML-N leaders] aren’t the one to forgive. They harbour animosity, seek revenge and balance scores at the right time. They only know the politics of revenge. This is their history.”

He also criticised PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif’s decision to change the then finance minister Miftah Ismail during the PDM government.

“Mian sahab changed our finance minister from London and brought us to the brink of default once again,” he said, adding that the move delayed the IMF agreement. He claimed the move essentially “sacrificed the economy and to save their politics”.

When asked about Mr Sharif’s claim of having a plan to fix economic issues, the PPP leader jibed that the elder Sharif kept the plan so secret that he “didn’t even share it with his brother” when the latter was the prime minister. He added that the 10-point Awami Muashi Muahida presented by PPP presented solutions to inflation, unemployment and poverty.

Ex-FM backs ‘proportional’ response to Iran’s strikes

When asked to name an “astute finance minister” who’d implement the party’s ambitious manifesto, which, among other things, pledges free electricity for up to 300 units, the PPP leader said, “I think the whole nation has a unanimous consensus that anybody but (Ishaq) Dar (should be the finance minister).”

He also claimed that independent candidates would play a huge role in the general elections.

“A huge number of independent candidates are contesting elections this year. Not only PTI leaders, but even those who are electables, and have a political history or those who failed to get tickets from PTI or PML-N are contesting.”

He added that “those friends” who are under the impression of winning a two-thirds majority are certainly mistaken. He continued that PPP is in contact with electables and vowed to form the government after the general elections.

‘Proportional response’

The former foreign minister also endorsed Pakistan’s strikes in Iran after the neighbour violated the country’s airspace, saying the response was “proportional and our right”.

Questioned about Pakistan’s response, Mr Bhutto-Zardari condemned the Iranian act and said, “No one should have the wrong idea that they can attack Pakistan or violate its sovereignty.

“I think Pakistan’s targeting of terrorist groups in Iran, our response was not only proportional but our right as a right to self-defence under international law.”

He said the idea of the issue spiralling into a regional conflict was a “dangerous thought”, adding that any such escalation into a full-blown conflict would be dangerous for both Pakistan and Iran, as well as the region.

He hoped that better sense would prevail and multiple pre-existing forums at various levels would be used to address current concerns between the neighbours.

The PPP chairman said there was pressure within Iran for various reasons but it would have been better if such an incident had not occurred due to the brotherly relations between the two countries. He opined that Iran had carried out the attack to defuse its internal pressure and show that “it is doing something”.

“I hope we will stress on diplomacy on both sides so there is no escalation in this fight. The consequences of this will be dangerous for Pakistan, our neighbour and the region.”

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2024