ISLAMABAD:Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman and Foreign Minister, stated on Sunday that he did not see the need to hold early elections as was being demanded by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.
However, he also asserted that the coalition government has inherited a “divided country” and a “collapsed economy” from its predecessor.
Mr. Bhutto-Zardari stated in an interview with Al-Jazeera that the current government, on the other hand, was looking for internal solutions and international consensus.
The chairman of the PPP stated that because no single political party or individual could solve the problem on their own, the nation as a whole needed to unite in order to address the issues left behind by the previous administration.
He slammed the claims that Mr. Khan’s removal was the result of a “foreign conspiracy,” stating that political leaders were supposed to tell the truth to their constituents rather than invent conspiracy theories. He stated that this was the first time a prime minister had been removed from office in accordance with the constitution through a vote of confidence rather than a coup or court order.
The chairman of the PPP responded, when asked about the possibility of early elections, that rather than “furthering democracy,” the early elections would “further Khan’s agenda.”
He said that the country needed to finish its five-year term unless there was an urgent need, which there isn’t right now.
The foreign minister responded to a question by stating that Kashmir remained an unfinished agenda and that, since Narendra Modi’s election, there had been less room for Muslims in India and Kashmir.
When it came to Afghanistan, Mr. Bhutto-Zardari stated that Pakistan would collaborate with the government of Afghanistan to address the threat posed by terrorist organizations and that the TTP had been involved in terrorist attacks.