KARACHI: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari announced today (Wednesday) that he will take the oath of office as a federal minister today (Wednesday), most likely as a foreign minister.
Bilawal made the announcement Tuesday during a press conference following the Central Executive Committee meeting of the PPP (CEC). The development comes after Qamar Zaman Kaira, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, stated last week that his party chairman would take the oath of office within two days.
Bilawal was present during the swearing-in of the first federal cabinet members, but he did not take the oath. However, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb assured the PPP chairman that he would take the oath of office upon his return to Pakistan.
Kaira told journalists in London that Bilawal has returned to Pakistan — following two meetings with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif to exchange views on political issues.
Meanwhile, Bilawal stated during today’s press conference that former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s “foreign conspiracy” narrative harmed Pakistan’s image in international fora.
Bilawal predicted that the PTI chairman’s “conspiracies” would continue as he shifted his focus from the judiciary to the Pakistan Election Commission (ECP).
According to the PPP chairman, Khan violated the Constitution and treated it as a “piece of paper,” while ex-Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri and President Arif Alvi were also complicit in the “conspiracy.”
He demanded an investigation into the events that transpired the night before the vote on the then-prime minister’s no-confidence motion.
“Imran Khan’s political career is built on deception and propaganda. He is currently running a campaign entitled ‘Why didn’t you save me?’ He is pursuing any institution that failed to save him “According to the PPP’s chairman.
Bilawal accused Khan of polarising “all the institutions of Pakistan” and urged them to remain within their constitutional mandates.
Regarding his meeting with the PML-N supremo, Bilawal stated that Nawaz invited him to iftar, where they discussed the “Charter of Democracy (CoD) II” — not “portfolio handing.”
