PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday warned that a political party, in an apparent reference to the PTI, risks being banned due to its deliberate targeting of state institutions on social media, and urged it to “abandon such politics.”
A day earlier, the Punjab Assembly adopted a resolution to ban the incarcerated PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan and his party for being “anti-state”, following remarks by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who assailed Imran for creating and spreading an “anti-army” rhetoric and stated that such narratives were now beyond politics and had become a “national security threat”.
Speaking to the media after visiting the residence of a late senior party worker in Lahore’s Baghbanpura neighbourhood, Bilawal said that the PTI is “targeting” the military leadership through social media and “concocting political conspiracies”.
“They attack institutions when Pakistan is passing through a critical phase,” he said. “I urge them to abandon these politics immediately. They have not only put their own party in jeopardy, but they have also left the political system and the people of Pakistan in a difficult spot.”
In response to a question about whether the PTI should be banned, the PPP chairman said that no political power wants conditions to become so bad that political voices are silenced.
“This will not be my preference or my choice, but what can I do when they continue to pursue extreme politics?” Bilawal asked. “Protest is your right, not entering and attacking military installations.”
