Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Wednesday that he was forced into politics at a young age. “I didn’t choose this life, it chose me,” said Bilawal in interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson.
When Anderson posed a question regarding dynastic politics, Bilawal said,” Absolutely, dynasties exist and it would be unfair to criticise the former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hilary Clinton for being involved in politics because her husband was involved in politics, etc. You can criticise nepotism and dynastic politics as much as you want but whoever the people of Pakistan decide, that should matter by the end of the day.”
“As far as myself is concerned, my grandfather was hanged by a military dictator, my mother was assassinated by terrorists and I was forced into Pakistani politics at a young age. I did not choose this life, it chose me,” he added.
Answering a question about being the foreign minister under a PM that is not from his own party, Bilawal said that it would be difficult for the party to stomach, being the second-largest member of the coalition. “However, we do have to work together to address Pakistan’s problems.
Talking about former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s demand for early elections, Bilawal said: “We absolutely want free and fair elections but in order for them to take place, we must legislate when it comes to the electoral reforms. As everybody knows, the 2018 elections that Khan used to come to power have been widely seen and condemned not only nationally but internationally as rigged and compromised elections that resulted in three years of an autocratic dictatorial rule through the office of Imran Khan. He not only robbed our media of media freedoms but robbed average Pakistanis of their democratic rights that they just recently started to enjoy.”
“It is a big victory for democracy that we are moving towards electoral reforms and free and fair elections. We are not a selected government like Mr Khan’s but a government that is truly representative of the people of Pakistan and can decide their fate.”
