Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari Urges End to Political Fights
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday urged the PML-N-led federal government to engage all political and social stakeholders instead of “fighting everyone”.
Speaking at a ceremony in Larkana, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the coalition government’s focus should be on the economic difficulties faced by the people, not on its “differences with each other”.
“Our priority should be the problems faced by the people,” he said.
He warned that people around the world were bearing the economic burden of the US-Israeli war on Iran. “This is a backbreaking burden. We have not seen this phenomenon in the past,” he said, adding that even if the war ends tomorrow, its economic consequences are unlikely to end soon.
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari warns of the cost of division
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari argued that supporting their people had become the biggest test for many governments, whether or not their countries were directly involved in the war.
“I advise the federal government that this is the time to engage with the political, social and provincial stakeholders rather than fighting everyone,” he said.
He cautioned that if “we continue to fight among ourselves” and keep fighting with PTI and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, alongside the fight against terrorists, India, Afghanistan and others, “then they might end up remaining engaged in that”.
“If the federal government and the relevant stakeholders focus on the problems faced by the people, only then we can emerge successful in this test, no matter how long it goes on for,” he said.
The Punjab row behind the remark
The PPP chairman’s advice comes at a time of visible friction inside the ruling coalition’s orbit. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif claimed this week that an attempt was under way to create an “alternative arrangement” in Punjab, amid a row between Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and federal minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain.
Salik’s brother, Chaudhry Shafay Hussain, stood by Salik and said his brother had never named the chief minister, adding that he could have been referring to systematic corruption.
Bilawal’s call for engagement, made in his home district of Larkana, reads as a public nudge to both sides. The PPP is the PML-N government’s main coalition partner, so its chairman’s words carry weight inside the coalition.
Why the economy frames the appeal
The economic strain Bilawal pointed to is visible in the weekly price data. Short-term inflation climbed to 12.31 per cent in the week ending November 5, with cooking gas LPG up 114.88 per cent over the year and tomatoes up 78.89 per cent.
Pakistan’s exposure to the Middle East conflict runs through energy. The country’s energy imports are worth Rs3.5 trillion a year, so any disruption to oil supplies feeds straight into fuel prices and the import bill. The State Bank’s foreign exchange reserves have steadied at $21.56 billion, but that cushion depends on steady inflows.
Islamabad has also been working to defuse tensions with Iran through diplomacy, even as the war strains regional trade and remittance flows.
For now, Bilawal’s message is simple: the government should spend its energy on people’s problems, not on fights within the political class.
What did Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari say?
He urged the federal government to engage all political, social and provincial stakeholders rather than “fighting everyone”, and to focus on people’s economic difficulties.
Where did he make the remarks?
At a ceremony in Larkana on Friday, November 6.
Why did he mention the war on Iran?
He said people around the world were bearing its economic burden, and that the consequences would last even after the war ends.
Which parties did he name?
He named PTI and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and referred to the fight against terrorists, India and Afghanistan.
