The Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) on Thursday announced that its chairman Bilawal Bhutto will stand in the upcoming general elections as the Prime Ministerial candidate, while his father and former President Asif Ali Zardari has been chosen as the presidential nominee, reported Dawn. Pakistan will go to polls on February 8 next year.
Speaking to the media, PPP's information secretary Faisal Karim Kundi confirmed that Bilawal will be the candidate for the seat of prime minister. "Our wish will be that we replay 2018 [scenario] and make Asif Zardari the president," he said.
Asif Ali Zardari, 68, served as the President of Pakistan after the elections held in 2008 till 2013. His son Bilawal, 35, served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from April 2022 to August 2023.
Kundi also reiterated that the upcoming elections should not be delayed beyond February 8, after Asif Ali Zardari remarked that a delay of “eight to 10 days” would make no difference. "It is better than selection and becoming a laadla (favourite) that we sit in the opposition," he added
The PPP leader also took a dig at former ally Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), accusing it of engaging in "drawing room politics" and asking why the “party that calls itself the country’s biggest is running away from elections”. He also affirmed that his party was “fully ready” for the general elections.
Speaking about former PM Nawaz Sharif’s recent acquittals in graft cases, Kundi said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had always been used for “political engineering”. “The same NAB used to make cases against Nawaz Sharif and is now acquitting him one after another,” he remarked.
Pakistan general elections
Notably, the Pakistan National Assembly has 342 seats-- 272 of which are directly elected, 60 are reserved for women, and 10 for religious minorities. According to the country's constitution, at least 70 seats reserved for women and religious minorities are allocated to the political parties as per their proportional representation.
Nawaz's ruling Pakistan Muslim League party (PML-N) is expected to face tough competition from Imran Khan’s PTI party-- though Khan himself would be unable to take part unless his conviction is overturned. Under Pakistan’s laws, no one with a criminal conviction can lead a party, run in elections, or hold public office.
However, the PML-N has emphasised several times in the past that Nawaz would return as the Prime Minister of Pakistan in the upcoming polls. In his maiden televised address to the country since his return, Nawaz said that the people will back his party in the upcoming general elections after he secured major victories from courts, Geo News reported.
He also reiterated the call for holding those accountable, including the military establishment of 2014-17, who were behind his government’s ouster in 2017, claiming they not only punished him and his family, but Pakistan as well. This came after he secured acquittals from two corruption cases in which he was convicted and imprisoned before his exile to London.
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