QUETTA: Former senator and senior leader of the National Party Mir Tahir Bizenjo on Sunday accused the leadership of the PPP and the PML-N of abandoning democratic principles in favour of retaining political power.

He said political priorities of President Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had completely changed and now achieving political power had become their main objective.

After securing power, issues such as democracy, the rule of law, the supremacy of the Constitution and Parliament, the Charter of Democracy, the 18th Constitutional Amendment, and provincial rights had been sidelined by leaders of these two political parties.

Mr Bizenjo further alleged that whether members of PPP and PML-N accepted it or not, the country’s political leadership was steering the country towards the worst form of authoritarianism and fascism with the support and cooperation of the two parties.

Commenting on the founder of PTI, Imran Khan, Mr Bizenjo said that despite the uncertainty surrounding Mr Khan’s future political course, the PTI founder continued to endure hardships of imprisonment.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2026