Karachi: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief Imran Khan is under threat of arrest ‘due to his ego’.

He made remarks during an interview on The Daily Show with Kal Penn, where talking about possible arrest of Imran Khan, Bilawal said, “Pakistan is facing perfect storm”. He added that courts asked Imran to appear and contest cases against him, but “he [Imran] says I’m Imran Khan and I’m too important and I’m not going to turn up to court”.  He added that he comes from family who faced genuine arrests during military dictatorships, adding that he would never want any politician to go to jail for political reasons. Bilawal said that PTI Chief has violated court orders time and time again, adding that “Finally courts have instructed police to produce him before court”.

“Not only do we have heightened partisanship and political polarisation, to extent that political parties or stakeholders aren’t even in position to sit in room and discuss issues amongst themselves, we are also facing an economic crisis,” he said. Bilawal highlighted security threat and security crisis that country is currently facing in fallout from fall of Afghan government and increasing terrorist attacks taking place in Pakistan.

“Pakistan has question of Imran Khan, who believes Constitution doesn’t apply to him”. Talking about deal with International Monetary Fund, Bilawal said negotiations are ongoing and have not concluded. He furthered that deal was made by previous government, which they “Violated, putting Pakistan in an extremely precarious economic situation”. Economic impact of war in Ukraine, Covid, devastating floods and security threats have put economy under incredible strain and stress. “We’re talking about whether Imran Khan is going to get arrested or not, we are not talking about millions of people who are, at moment in danger,” he furthered. Talking about regime change in Afghanistan, Bilawal said Pakistan was off to positive start initially but it is becoming incredibly difficult, keeping in mind state of women’s education and their right to access education. When asked if state of democracy in Pakistan is fragile, he said, "Absolutely. Pakistan has been for most of our history under direct military dictatorship."

Published in The Daily National Courier, March, 15 2023

Like Business on Facebook, follow @DailyNCourier on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.