Bilawal throws down the gauntlet to PM; challenges the PM about no-confidence, Punjab

“We think we have proved your members do not have confidence in you. You will not take these decisions now. We will tell you, I will tell you, PDM will tell you when no-confidence will take place,” he said in a press conference. Still riding high on the wave of opposition joint candidate Yousuf Raza Gillani’s unlikely victory over Hafeez Sheikh, the PPP leader signaled that troubles for Prime Minister Imran Khan and his ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) may not be over just yet.

“We think we must save Punjab first,” he told the members of the press. “Nobody can save this government. This is well and truly the beginning of the end,” he predicted.

“I know, but Imran Khan doesn’t, about every vote, every MNA, who sits with you but in his heart, he is with us. I know who has given votes as per their conscience. We know who voted against Hafeez Sheikh and who voted against Imran Khan. We know how many legislators don’t even want to show their faces in their constituencies. We know who wants to contest the next election on arrow [PPP electoral symbol] and on lion [PML-N electoral symbol],” he said, confirming one theory that had been mentioned earlier by political analysts.

“You all saw, how the entire government came to hold the press conference, you can see their attempts to cover their loss, the drama they were enacting. We had accepted Imran Khan’s challenge. He had said if we win this seat, he will dissolve the assembly and announce new elections. But as you know, Imran khan is a coward and scared of elections. We have shown the world you have lost the confidence of the national assembly. You have been rejected not just by PDM but by your own MNAs and the MNAs of your allies. You should have, at the very least, filed your resignation,” stressed the PPP chairman, taunting his political rival. “Last night it was said he will take a vote of confidence today but now he has run away from that. This too is a drama, an attempt to hide your loss,” Bilawal said.

“We will not spare you, we will not give you NRO, you cannot run. We will chase you. We will face off against you in chairman senate election, and on every forum,” he stated unequivocally.

The PPP chairman also said that yesterday, all of Pakistan celebrated the victory of a single seat in Islamabad. “Every Pakistan who has been harmed by this illegitimate and incompetent government, every Pakistani who cannot pay his electricity bill, every Pakistani who cannot buy medicine for their elders, celebrated yesterday,”

In answer to a question, the PPP leader said that he had talked to a few leaders on the phone and met them in person and will meet more allies on Thursday. “When Fazlur Rehman announced Gillani as the PDM candidate, we said he will also be our nominee for senate chairman. We will face the government candidate,” he confirmed.

When asked about Punjab, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that he has made it clear again and again that PDM will take joint decisions. “We will decide when and how no-confidence will take place in Punjab. We can share that the number of people who wanted to vote for us were more than what you saw yesterday, but could not. This number will keep on increasing,” he foretold.

Asked about using money to buy votes, Bilawal said that Imran Khan does not trust his own MNAs, he thinks they take money. “If he does know who has taken or given money, that they have been corrupt, then I challenge him, if he dares, to expel them from the party,” he challenged.

“We did not fight this election on the basis of money. Neither someone like Farhatullah Babar nor the richest man in the country can contest against the state. Nobody can compete with 50 crore funds. Someone who has no understanding of politics, and thinks everything is a cricket match, might think this is a reasonable argument. But others understand the meaning behind being in opposition in this atmosphere and defeating this government,” Bilawal stated.

“In politics, you keep your cards close to your chest. I can only tell you that the positive response we received from the treasury benches was far more than the votes you saw. When the PDM orders us we will bring no-confidence movement wherever they want,” he confirmed. He denied knowing who had voted for Gillani, but admitted to knowing “who is with us”. He said that the power of the poor people of the country is with him. “I cannot adopt undemocratic means. I do not have a gun,” he asserted.

In reply to a question about whether “selectors” had rejected Imran Khan, the PPP chairman said, “Our struggle is not for turning any institute’s favor towards us. Our struggle is for every institution to work within its sphere. We are under no delusion that this struggle, which we have been fighting since three generations, will be won in a day. But it will be won because this is how the system must go on.”

Former Prime Minister Gillani said that when PDM decided to contest by-elections and senate polls, then from Karachi to Khyber, was money used. “I want to say when I was filling the forms with my lawyer, the expense of 200,000 was not met,” he informed the media. He also asked if the President of Pakistan was convinced that PM lost confidence of the assembly. “Is he confirming our stance was right?”