KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has warned that governor’s rule could be imposed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa if negotiations fail, accusing Chief Minister Sohail Afridi of leaving no stone unturned to create conditions for such a move. Addressing the inauguration ceremony of a sports complex in Baldia Town, Bilawal said the federal government had been prepared to impose governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a few days earlier. However, he said, the PPP was not in favour of its immediate implementation and believed that governor’s rule should be considered only as a last resort. He described governor’s rule and the imposition of an emergency as constitutionally available options but likened them to an “atomic bomb”, stressing that such measures should only be used as a last resort. Bilawal accused the KP chief minister of abandoning dialogue in favor of confrontational politics, saying the politics of extremism was causing the greatest damage to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) itself. He added that the party’s decisions were disappointing its own supporters. Referring to Pakistan’s political history, he said political leaders who had been imprisoned had eventually been released. He cited former president Asif Ali Zardari, who, he said, had spent 14 years in prison. Bilawal urged Sohail Afridi to abandon confrontational politics if he was genuinely sincere in his support for PTI founder Imran Khan. He warned that if the party continued pursuing what he termed extremist politics, Imran Khan could surpass Zardari’s record of imprisonment. Holding the KP chief minister responsible for the province’s prevailing situation, the PPP chairman said the circumstances had deteriorated to such an extent that the imposition of an emergency was being discussed. He further said the politics of extremism had generated disputes within PTI as well as legal battles in the courts. If the party continued along the same path, he warned, its provincial government could also lose power. Bilawal reiterated that governor’s rule would be imposed if negotiations failed, arguing that the chief minister’s actions had contributed to the situation. He added that it appeared the KP chief minister himself wanted governor’s rule to be imposed in the province The PPP chairman also welcomed the inclusion of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in the ongoing negotiations between the federal government and PTI.
