Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addresses a press conference in Karachi on November 7, 2025.
LAHORE:
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari once again opposed the idea of banning any political party but said political parties should also adopt responsible political attitude.
Speaking to the media after visiting the house of late senior party leader Zubaida Jafri in Baghbanpura area of Lahore – where he condoled the family over her death – the PPP leader on Wednesday said it was the government’s responsibility to give space to the opposition in politics.
“All political forces must play a serious role for the betterment of the country,” he said.
The PPP chairman, however, also indirectly criticized Imran Khan’s PTI, saying that despite Pakistan facing dual threats from the eastern and western borders, “one political party”, instead of standing with the armed forces against the country’s opponents, has consumed all its energies in trying to overthrow military leaders and fomenting conspiracies through social media.
“Instead of attacking national heroes, they should focus on public issues and service,” he said.
Coming down further on the PTI, he said the political party was trying to create a wedge between the people and the army by playing the role of a “political antichrist”.
“I am free. I can criticize the government and also praise it. Someone should go and tell these people that politics is not extremism.”
He said the PTI’s policies had proved detrimental even to himself.
He added that if a political party supports terrorists, there could be a risk of governor’s rule where the party is in power.
However, Bilawal said he had not seen Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor Faisal Karim Kundi’s statement in this regard. The PTI rules KP and the federal government has threatened the party that imposition of governor’s rule in the province is not out of the question.
During the interview, Bilawal also took a veiled jab at Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.
Expressing his lack of confidence in the Election Commission of Pakistan, he said electoral reform was essential before the next elections so that “no chief minister is accused of being a product of Form 47”.
The chairman of the PPP, a key ally of the PML-N-led government, said neither the government’s allies nor the opposition had confidence in the ECP.
He urged parties on both sides to work toward electoral reforms. Bilawal once again alleged fraud in the DG Khan elections, saying PPP candidate Dost Muhammad Khosa won but was not declared the winner. He is committed to fighting this injustice.
Bilawal said neither he nor his party could be accused of securing a Form 47 victory – a euphemism used to describe a seat offered by the establishment where election results would be altered.
He invited Maryam Nawaz and other PML-N leaders to come and contest the Sindh elections.
Bilawal said Afghanistan was playing into the hands of anti-Pakistan forces by providing shelter to terrorists and miscreants. According to him, the general impression was that those involved in terrorist activities had the full support of the Afghan interim arrangements.
Later in the day, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari welcomed a former PTI leader and custodian of a famous shrine into the party fold. Bilawal also held meetings with youth and students and heard their suggestions and problems regarding the improvement of their respective organizations.
The PPP leader is expected to visit Chiniot to offer condolences on the death of Hasan Murtaza’s father. His departure will mark the end of his tour in Lahore, as he is expected to return to Faisalabad from where he is expected to leave for Islamabad.
He was accompanied during the visit by Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Nayyar Bukhari, Nadeem Afzal Chan, Faisal Mir and Nargis Khan.
