Bilawal demands resignation of NA speaker, deputy speaker

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday demanded resignation of National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser and Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri for not allowing to speak him in today’s session. Addressing a press conference hours after the arrest of his father Asif Ali Zardari, the PPP chairman complained that he was not allowed to speak yet again in the National Assembly during today’s session. “Three of the government members got the chance to speak but I was denied to speak in the house,” he alleged. “I condemn the attitude of the NA speaker and the deputy speaker and demand that they resign from their posts because they are not impartial,” he mentioned. “We have seen with our own eyes that when someone from the government indicates, the speaker gets up or sits down,” Bilawal said. “It’s the second time that the MNAs from Jhelum and Rawalpindi were preferred over an MNA from Larkana. My voice has been censored again. Two federal ministers were preferred over me,” he added. Bilawal said under Article-10A, every Pakistani has the right to free trial, adding that the government do not even let them cry. “PPP believes in rule of law and will face all the cases,” he said and added his party had announced to start a mass contact campaign before Eidul Fitr. “Looks like the government doesn’t want to run the National Assembly, adding that the production orders are Asif Zardari’s right,” he said. The PPP chairman also lambasted the government for turning the country into a censored Pakistan. “This doesn't happen in a democracy; this is not a democratic Pakistan, this is a censored Pakistan,” he elaborated. Speaking on the arrest of his father, Bilawal said the former president turned himself in because he wants to avail his right to a fair trial. “We have never hidden behind arrests or cases. What's the difference between this ‘Naya Pakistan’ and the Pakistan of Gen (rtd) Pervez Musharraf or that of General Ayub Khan? People were silenced then and the same is happening now. “As the son of Benazir Bhutto and the grandson of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, it is incumbent upon me to continue the struggle for democracy,” he added. A number of party workers and Zardari’s children Bilawal and Aseefa saw him off as the former president was driven away in a black Landcruiser. The emotional scene has also been seen when Zardari hugs and kisses with her daughter Aseefa Zaradri. After sitting in the NAB’s vehicle, Bilawal Bhutto also gave kiss on the face of Zardari and see off him. The PPP co-chairman was shifted to the NAB Rawalpindi office. The arrest comes hours after the Islamabad High Court rejected an application seeking extension in the pre-arrest bails of Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur in the fake accounts case. Police personnel, including female officials, had entered the former president’s house after the court decision. All roads leading to the residence were blocked by police. The reports said that Asif ALi Zardari will be presented before the accountability court Islamabad tomorrow (on Tuesday).