PAKISTAN People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday urged the federal government and political parties to set aside their differences and engage all political, social and provincial stakeholders to tackle the economic crisis. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of a 600-bed hospital in Larkana, he warned that the fallout from the Iran war was placing an unprecedented burden on ordinary Pakistanis, therefore, public welfare must take precedence over political confrontation. “If we remain engaged in fighting one another, with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), with Maulana (Fazlur Rehman), with terrorists, with India and Afghanistan, then we will not be able to alleviate the suffering of the Pakistani people,” Bilawal added.
There is universal consensus that the country cannot achieve the desired pace of progress and development without reconciliation, atmosphere of national unity and consensus on economic issues. Differences of opinion are normal and these help crystallize policies aimed at promoting welfare of the people and good of the country but we are in the habit of stretching such differences to extreme limits without caring for the interests of the people and the country. It was because of leg-pulling that successive governments could not complete their terms in the past, forcing bitter political rivals to sign a Charter of Democracy (CoD) but this too was not followed in letter and spirit. Then we witnessed a fairly long period marked by violent politics, long marches, sit-ins and blockades of roads and highways disrupting normal life for weeks and months and inflicting enormous losses on the economy. No one will differ that there was dire need to put an end to challenges like terrorism, strained political atmosphere and tense relations with India and Afghanistan. But who knows better than Bilawal, who also served as the Foreign Minister of the country, that Pakistan made sincere efforts all along to have friction-free ties both with New Delhi and Kabul but its goodwill gestures were not reciprocated and instead the two capitals have joined hands to weaken Pakistan through terrorist activities. As for political tension, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif repeatedly offered talks to PTI but the latter showed more interest in pressure tactics. Bilawal is calling for reconciliation and inclusion of the PTI in the parliamentary committee on electoral reforms but the party has responded by saying how talks could be held with the PPP, which stabbed in our back in KP. PPP’s Governor is the de facto chief executive of the province and the party should take a lead in initiating a reconciliation process.
