Bilawal says govt wants Zardari to contract Covid-19.

Byline: Amjad Mahmood

LAHORE -- PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has alleged that the PTI government wants to 'murder' former president Asif Ali Zardari through the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

He was speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday in which he, among other issues, dilated upon the 'minus one' formula, negated the impression that his party was seeking any concessions from the government, challenged the prime minister to an open debate, chided Imran Khan for the latter's stance on Osama bin Laden's death, and disputed the government's data on coronavirus pandemic.

'The government wants to assassinate [former] president Asif Ali Zardari. When president Zardari was in jail, he was not provided with medicine and today NAB wants him to be infected with Covid-19 by forcing him to appear in court in connection with a case,' he said. 'This government does not respect the elderly as well as women but we will not compromise on the 18th Amendment,' he said.

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Flanked by Qamar Zaman Kaira, Chaudhry Manzoor, Hassan Murtaza and Samina Ghurki, the PPP chairman said his party did not want any NRO and would continue to give tough time to the 'puppet' government no matter how many lawsuits were filed against the party leadership. He dared the government to go for conviction of PPP leaders if it had enough evidence to prove cases [of any wrongdoings].

He said Imran Khan gave several NROs, the first one to his sister Aleema Khan, who had not yet produced her money trail. Imran Khan introduced a general amnesty scheme for 'thieves' because he himself took advantage of Gen Musharraf's amnesty.

'The sugar commission was also an NRO, which was given to Buzdar, Tareen and Asad Umar. The government's each policy seems to be based on the principle of NRO.'

Mr Bhutto-Zardari told a questioner it was PM Khan and not the opposition parties talking about the 'minus one' formula. He said whenever democracy faced threats, the PPP played a vital role in its preservation. He said democracy was threatened by Imran Khan 'who is undermining the office of prime minister, parliament and the constitution'.

Responding to a question, he said they didn't follow the 'finger of any umpire' but of the masses and challenged the questioner if his TV channel could telecast evidence of rigging in the last Senate polls.

Asked about the modus operandi to be adopted to oust Imran Khan, he said democracy and the...