Foreign minister says current political chaos is distracting from the real issues that are affecting everyday Pakistanis
\n islamabad
\nForeign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari Wednesday said that Pakistan is facing a \u201cperfect storm\u201d of crises as the country battles with worsening political, economic and security issues.
\nSpeaking during an interview with The Daily Show, Bilawal said: \u201cUnfortunately, Pakistan is facing a perfect storm. Not only do we have heightened partisanship and political polarisation, to the extent that political parties or political stakeholders aren\u2019t even in a position to sit in a room and discuss issues amongst themselves, we\u2019re also facing an economic crisis.\u201d
\nAs the country faces a security threat and crisis following the Afghan government\u2019s fall, he said, it is also suffering from the increasing frequency of terrorist attacks and reeling from the aftermath of the biggest climate catastrophe in history.
\nThe minister, when responding to a question about the ongoing unrest in Pakistan \u2014 owing to the imminent arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan \u2014 said that while the country deals with the chaos and simultaneous crises, the PTI chief believes the country\u2019s law doesn\u2019t apply to him.
\nHeavy police force reached Zaman Park \u2014 Khan\u2019s residence in Lahore \u2014 in the early hours of Wednesday after Islamabad police failed to arrest him amid fierce clashes between the PTI workers and the anti-riot force in and around the party chief\u2019s residence that left dozens of activists and police personnel injured since Tuesday.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s resigned from parliament and run away from the system. In this particular instance, it\u2019s not a question of me wanting to arrest Mr Khan […] I would never want any politician in my country or any country to go to jail for political reasons. In Mr Khan\u2019s case, he\u2019s under the threat of arrest because of his ego,\u201d the minister said, adding that the former prime minister thinks he\u2019s \u201ctoo important and won\u2019t turn up to the court\u201d.
\n\u2018Khan\u2019s decisions are mockery of judicial system\u2019
\nForeign Minister Bilawal deemed Khan\u2019s decisions a \u201ccomplete mockery of the judicial system in Pakistan, of rule of law, of the Constitution in Pakistan\u201d.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re caught in a situation where there\u2019s this political chaos playing out on the streets and distracting from the real issues that are affecting everyday Pakistanis,\u201d the foreign minister said.
\nWhen asked if the state of democracy in Pakistan is fragile, the politician said \u201cAbsolutely. Pakistan has been, for most of our history, under direct military dictatorship.\u201d
\nBilawal said forces that benefit from \u201cundemocratic rule in Pakistan\u201d didn\u2019t like when political parties came together after the death of his mother and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. \u201cSo they supported Mr Khan and brought him into power. And that\u2019s now blown up not only in those individuals\u2019 faces, but has had severe consequences for our country,\u201d he said.
\n\u2018Outsized burden on poorest of poor\u2019
\nResponding to a question on how the political instability affects Pakistan\u2019s economy, the minister said: \u201cThe deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is made by the previous government, [which] violated that deal with the IMF.
\n\u201cThey put Pakistan in an extremely precarious economic situation. […] Our negotiations are still ongoing and have not been concluded with the IMF. I think that when Pakistan is facing such a perfect storm, some problems of our own creation, but some, like the flood and others, that are of our own, the conversation with the IMF really should take that into account, and I don\u2019t think it is at the moment.\u201d
\nHe added that whether it is Pakistan\u2019s deals with the IMF or the country\u2019s own internal economic policy, there\u2019s an outsized burden on the poorest of the poor.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s an outsized burden on the bottom of the pyramid. […] but we do need a fundamental reform about how we talk about our economy and what decisions we take domestically in order to achieve that,\u201d FM Bilawal said.
\n\u2018Fog of war\u2019
\nWhen the host questioned the minister regarding the relations between Pakistan and the United States, particularly in the context of terrorism, he said that whatever happened during the war on terror and the entire period that followed, there\u2019s a \u201cfog of war that colours everyone\u2019s decision-making, everyone\u2019s perception\u201d.<\/p>\n
He insisted that Afghanistan is a reality and that the world must get serious about engaging on the topic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that based on the facts on the ground, the position and perspective of Pakistan and the United States, we meet eye to eye. […] And whatever has happened in the past, we should be able to have honest conversations about that,\u201d the foreign minister maintained, adding that it is crucial for the two countries to be working together and strategise the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019ve been working on with my counterpart, Secretary Blinken,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Foreign minister says current political chaos is distracting from the real issues that are affecting everyday Pakistanis islamabad Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari Wednesday said that Pakistan is facing a \u201cperfect storm\u201d of crises as the country battles with worsening political, economic and security issues. Speaking during an interview with The Daily Show, Bilawal said: \u201cUnfortunately, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-319690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n