Home Latest News ‘Bloodshed’ in Next Elections without Code of Conduct, Warns Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari

‘Bloodshed’ in Next Elections without Code of Conduct, Warns Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari

Foreign minister calls for independent probe into events leading up to and after the vote of no-confidence to ‘punish’ perpetrators

by Staff Report

Photo courtesy National Assembly of Pakistan

There will be bloodshed between rival groups in the next general elections if all stakeholders—political parties, media, judiciary—do not agree to a code of conduct, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Thursday.

“A minimal code of conduct is necessary for all political parties—whether within or outside Parliament—on how they want to proceed with our politics,” the minister—who is also the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party—told the National Assembly. The code of conduct, he said, must make it incumbent on all stakeholders to act in accordance with the Constitution and law and communicate their political differences respectably. Through this framework, he stressed, all parties must provide space for national institutions such as the judiciary and the security establishment to work within their constitutional mandates.

“If we all can’t agree to a basic code of conduct prior to the next general elections, then there will be bloodshed in our next elections,” he warned, noting that in the “uncivilized” past whoever was strongest would emerge victorious after attacking their opponents.

“No one is willing to follow the rules of the game,” he said, adding that if parties like the PTI were not even willing to sit in Parliament, then the only solution left was for rivals to take up guns against each other. “We must work together to help the country overcome its current crises,” he added.

Independent probe

Earlier, the foreign minister called for an independent probe into the events leading up to and directly after the vote of no-confidence that led to the ouster of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

On April 3, Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri had termed the no-trust motion as “unconstitutional” and dismissed it after which Khan had advised President Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly, which he had immediately done. The no-trust vote was, however, restored and all actions taken by Khan subsequent to its dismissal nullified after the Supreme Court ruled that Suri’s actions were in violation of the Constitution. When the vote was set to once again take place on April 9, Speaker Asad Qaiser had tendered his resignation, resulting in the polling taking place in the early hours of April 10 under the chairmanship of PMLN MNA Ayaz Sadiq, a senior member of the panel of chairs.

“This house must form a high-level parliamentary commission or committee to investigate the events leading up to April 3, post-April 3, of the night of April 9 and 10, and the events that have taken place to date after [the vote of no-confidence],” Bhutto-Zardari said, adding that “attacks” on the Constitution and Parliament should be taken seriously and appropriate punishments meted out to perpetrators.

He said that because no action had been taken against the unconstitutional acts of the previous regime, the former prime minister now believed himself some kind of “holy cow” and was delivering speeches that were against the national interest. “For four years this ‘selected’ was imposed on us,” he said. “He destroyed our country’s economy; isolated Pakistan internationally; attacked the Constitution and fundamental rights; caused an energy and water crisis,” he alleged, noting that the country’s food security situation had already been dire even before the geopolitical events that had now raised commodity prices globally. “We not only need to correct the mistakes of the past government, but also factor in the impact of the geopolitical events such as the invasion of Ukraine,” he added.

“Even the Supreme Court termed the previous government’s acts of April 3 as unconstitutional,” he said, adding that the people of Pakistan demanded accountability for its illegal actions. During his speech, he alleged that the night before the no-confidence motion, he had been “threatened” by a minister that the then-opposition should either agree to early elections or be ready for martial law.

“We have been hearing the anti-corruption narrative for 30 years now,” he said, adding that Khan hadn’t been unable to imprison even a single “thief” in his four years in power. “He was the biggest thief in Pakistan’s history,” he alleged, citing Transparency International. “Someone should ask the former prime minister how he and his wife’s friends made so much money when he was in power,” he said.

“But he talks about a foreign conspiracy, attacks the judiciary,” he said, adding that Khan “lied” whenever his past actions were called into question. “This is their [PTI] strategy,” he said, alleging that the ousted party was attempting to incite violence or force the imposition of unconstitutional rule. “We have to work together to ensure Khan’s strategy is defeated,” he added.

Electoral reforms

Stressing that the PPP had never been in favor of political engineering, he echoed a statement of PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari by emphasizing that electoral reforms should take place before the next general elections. “We are a democratic force and demand transparent elections. We had earlier demanded that electoral reforms should take place first. This is PPP’s clear stance,” he said.

The foreign minister said there were two aspects to electoral reforms: first, the amendments and laws enacted by the former government must be repealed. “Then, we must sit together and deliberate on what new reforms are needed,” he said, adding that all stakeholders, including civil society, must play a role in this.

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