PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Sunday that if the opposition was willing to fight against terrorism and “we agree on a plan”, governor’s rule and emergency imposed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa could end.

He made these remarks while speaking to the media in Karachi, where he was visiting the Karsaz Monument on the 19th anniversary of the Karsaz bombing.

His statement comes a week after the Centre imposed governor’s rule and emergency in KP, citing the provincial government’s “deliberate disengagement” from the fight against terrorism. The move also followed a mobilisation drive and protest march by the PTI, which was in power in KP and in opposition in the Centre, to demand the release of its jailed founder, Imran Khan.

In his media talk, Bilawal said the country had reached a point where “terrorist attacks are taking place from Khyber to Khuzdar”.

He regretted that when the government changed in Kabul in 2021, the Pakistani government at that time “also decided to invite the terrorists who were in Afghanistan to come back and live in our Swat, our Malakand, our former tribal areas”. He was referring to ex-premier Imran Khan’s plans to resettle members of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan in the country.

Bilawal went on to say that terrorists who were in jail in Pakistan were also freed.

“Today, Pakistan is suffering the losses from these wrong decisions,” Bilawal said.

He added that the country had now once again reached the point where “some forces want to take down Pakistan’s flag in Swat” and there was a fight against terrorism ongoing across the entire country, while security forces, law enforcers and the public were being targeted.

However, he claimed, in the province where the highest number of terrorist incidents were taking place — KP — its chief minister had pledged that he would not face the terrorists.

“If the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister (Sohail Afridi) was a coward, if he was not ready to defend his homeland, if he was not ready to fight those terrorists, then the PPP is ready to fight them,” Bilawal said. “That is why we supported the government’s decision to impose governor’s rule in KP.”

He stressed that the party would “join forces with everyone to fight these terrorists”.

The PPP chairman also expressed his opinion that the greatest suffering was caused when terrorist incidents in the country were not taken seriously.

He said that the PPP had “readied all of society” to fight terrorism by creating an environment for counter-terrorism operations in 2008, when the party was in government. After this, he said, they had also taken a holistic approach to bring institutional changes to assist with combatting terrorism.

He emphasised that success was achieved when “every citizen” of Pakistan joined together to fight terrorism, saying, “Today as well, we will make efforts to create an environment where we are all united, and will fight the terrorists together.”

He added that without this unity, the country would not be successful in fighting terrorism.

Bilawal added that for this reason, in his address to the National Assembly, he had highlighted the need for a new National Action Plan and a new consensus to fight against terrorism, while also extending an invitation to the opposition to play a part in this.

He also said that the PPP made an effort to improve the democratic system by pushing for electoral reforms. To this end, the federal government had decided to establish an electoral reforms committee, in which Bilawal said he had invited the opposition to play their part as well by being members of the committee.

“If they say that democracy is weak in this country, then they should help us to strengthen it,” the PPP chairman said. “If they really want to fight terrorists, and if they want that the emergency and governor rule in KP end, then they should engage with the federal government and politicians and talk about a policy regarding a united fight against terrorism.”

He added, “If we can create such an environment, we will be in a better position to fight terrorists.”

Bilawal highlighted that if the opposition was also ready to fight terrorism and agree on a plan to do so, then the emergency in KP could also be concluded.

“We are not yet at the point where I can say that we have achieved the Pakistan that Benazir Bhutto fought for,” he said. “But we are trying to make that Pakistan.”

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