Bilawal Bhutto urges PTI to shun ‘extremist politics’, return to democratic norms

Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has urged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to abandon what he described as extremist politics and return to conventional political engagement.

“Based on our history and experience, our advice is that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) should leave extremism and bring its politics back within democratic boundaries. This will be better for their party, their leader, their workers and for the country’s overall political environment,” Bilawal said while inaugurating an intensive care unit at the Larkana Children’s Hospital on Sunday.

Bilawal criticised PTI for attacking state institutions following the arrest of its leader, saying his party would have faced far harsher consequences had it acted similarly. “If PTI attacked institutions after the arrest of its leader and nothing happened, I ask what would have become of us if the PPP had done the same?” he said.

He said political stability and the survival of democracy in Pakistan required responsible conduct from both the government and the opposition. “If you pursue extremist politics, then you cannot complain about the hardness that follows,” he said, citing an English idiom: “If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

Referring to legal cases against political leaders, Bilawal said: “If a small NAB case is made against your leader and, in response to his arrest, you attack our national institutions, then you should not complain later, because action will follow according to the law.”

He recalled raising the same question with party workers a day earlier at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh. “This is about PTI, but I ask you again — if the PPP had attacked institutions over the arrest of its leader, what would our fate have been?” he said, adding, “With PTI, nothing seems to be happening.”

Responding to another question, the PPP chairman said reconciliation remained his party’s core political philosophy. He said President Asif Ali Zardari had played a leading role in promoting reconciliation in the past and would continue to do so in the current political climate. “President Zardari has a history of reconciliation, and even today, he will have to play that role,” Bilawal said.

He said tensions were high on Pakistan’s borders with India and Afghanistan and that the country was facing terrorism. “At such a time, if PTI behaves like an extremist organisation, the state’s response will be exactly the same,” Bilawal said.

Bilawal also thanked the prime minister for sending a delegation to attend the Benazir Bhutto anniversary commemorations but said no political discussions took place. He stressed that political parties must find political solutions, saying such an approach was in the public interest.

Referring to elections, he said polls would be held on time and that any reforms needed to ensure transparency should be pursued jointly by political parties. “There is still time before elections,” he said, urging all parties, including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), to focus on electoral reforms and address objections.

Highlighting Sindh’s healthcare initiatives, Bilawal said key health facilities had been established across Karachi and other districts of the province, claiming that no other province offered comparable services. He said highly sensitive intensive care facilities, which he described as globally expensive, were being launched in Larkana.

He added that, in collaboration with the ChildLife Foundation, paediatric healthcare services were being expanded across Sindh. “Sindh now has the lowest child mortality rate,” he said.

Bilawal acknowledged the country’s economic crisis, saying salaried individuals were struggling to make ends meet. He said the PPP aimed to introduce policies to reduce the economic burden on citizens and was implementing the manifesto of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

He criticised government claims of development, saying the public remained dissatisfied with economic conditions. “The common man cannot afford education and healthcare expenses,” he said.

On privatisation, Bilawal said the PPP favoured a public-private partnership model. He cited projects such as the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company and the ChildLife Foundation as successful examples, noting that The Economist magazine had ranked Sindh’s public-private partnership model sixth globally.