Pakistan: Bilawal House conspired against you, not White House, FM Bilawal tells ex-PM Imran

Taking a dig at ex-prime minister Imran Khan for claiming that the US conspired against his ouster, Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Sunday that the “conspiracy” to topple the PTI government was not hatched inside the White House but in Bilawal House. Addressing a rally in Karachi, the foreign minister said contrary to Khan’s claims, there was no foreign conspiracy against him and he was only ousted through a democratic process which is a victory both for the country’s parliament and political workers.

“We used the no-confidence vote as a democratic weapon against Imran Khan and brought his government down,” Bilawal said as he explained how the “conspiracy” was planned, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

“Imran Khan was never your or people’s representative... he was imposed upon us. He assumed power but he failed to deliver on a single promise,” he said.

Bilawal said Khan promised five million homes and 10 million jobs and vowed to eliminate corruption in 90 days, but the PTI government was involved in “record corruption”.

He said Khan destroyed Pakistan and made the common man’s life miserable. Bilawal said akin to his cricketing days, Khan tried ball tempering in politics too but failed.

“He attacked the constitution via his speaker as he was trying to escape from the no-confidence motion,” he said.

After attacking parliament, Khan is now targeting the judiciary and the army, he said.

“Basically, he is asking why did they not save his government... he wanted them to take undemocratic steps to save him,” he said. Khan blames the US for sending his government home. He said he had asked the military establishment to intervene and save his government but it did nothing.

Highlighting the former government’s failures, Bilawal said China has always been Pakistan’s best friend but due to the confusing policies of Khan, Beijing also got annoyed.

“His policies were confusing... on one hand he was criticising Narendra Modi but also kept calling him but did not get any response and he also kept calling Joe Biden but he also didn’t give any diligence,” he added.

Bilawal said it was the PPP’s efforts that led to the formation of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – an alliance of former opposition parties, the Dawn newspaper reported.

“Forgetting our political differences, together with other parties, we formed the PDM and on September 20, 2020, when we laid the basis for PDM, we had clearly said we would do long marches and protests and that we would also struggle inside parliament and send the PTI government home through a vote of no-confidence,” Bilawal recalled.

He explained that personal and political differences were forgotten during times of hardship in favour of “national interest”, the report said.

“The PPP is ready for elections as soon as we bring in our election reforms and act on the Charter of Democracy,” he said.

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Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician, was voted out of power last month through a no-confidence motion, which he alleges was masterminded by the US with the help of local players over his pursuance of an independent foreign policy. His supporters used social media to target the army for doing nothing to save his government.

The state institutions like the judiciary and the military have been severely criticised since the Imran Khan-led government was ousted from power through a no-confidence motion. Since then, Khan held several public rallies in different cities, labelling the new government as “traitors and corrupt rulers” allegedly imposed at the behest of the US.

Since his ouster, he has blamed the US for conspiring against his government – a stance that the incumbent government has refuted.

• Pakistan