Naming army chief was Sharif’s own decision: Bilawal

islamabad — Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has that he was “shocked” when he heard PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif ’s speech during the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) first rally in Gujranwala last month in which Sharif named the country’s top military leadership for orchestrating his ouster among other things.

The PPP chairman made the revelation during an interview with BBC Urdu, in which he discussed several topics, including the upcoming GilgitBaltistan elections and the 11-party opposition alliance.

“During the all-parties conference, there was debate on whether the blame should be laid on one institution or the entire establishment,” Bilawal was quoted by Dawn News as saying in the interview. “It was decided that a single institution would not be named, the establishment would.”

Bilawal went on to say that when he explicitly heard Sharif take the names of the army chief and the ISI chief, he was “shocked”.

“It was a shock for me because, typically, we don’t talk like this at rallies. But Sharif heads his own party and I can’t control what he says, just like he can’t control what I say,” Bilawal said.

The PPP chairperson further said that he was waiting for Sharif to present evidence to back up his claims.

When asked whether the opposition alliance was naming the country’s top military leadership in a bid to pressure them to resign, the PPP chairman said taking names was Sharif and his party’s “personal decision”, emphasising that the opposition did not want the military leadership to resign.

“Let me make this clear that this (resignation of military leadership) is not a part of our demands and does not reflect our position.”

He added that personally, he refrained from levelling accusations at rallies when it comes to his own party. “But Sharif has the right to take such a stand if he so wishes.”

Criticising Prime Minister Imran Khan, the PPP chairperson said that Imran was using state institutions as his personal ‘Tiger Force’ and maintained that all institutions of the country need to perform their functions as defined. —

It was a shock for me because, typically, we don’t talk like this at rallies. But Sharif heads his own party and I can’t control what he says, just like he can’t control what I say

Bilawal Bhutto

PPP chairman