ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday urged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers to join the electoral reforms committee, saying active opposition participation could strengthen parliament.
Speaking in the National Assembly, Bilawal asked Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai to use his authority to ensure opposition parties participate in the electoral reform process.
He said the government and treasury benches had a responsibility to make parliament functional. However, the opposition also needed to fulfil its role in the legislative process.
“Parliament is powerful, and if parliament is powerful, we are all powerful,” Bilawal said, stressing that elected representatives shared responsibility for strengthening the institution.
He warned that those seeking to keep parliament weak and ineffective had achieved their objective because of the opposition’s absence from parliamentary proceedings.
Bilawal Calls for Electoral Reforms
Bilawal said political parties must represent their constituencies and raise public concerns through parliamentary forums instead of remaining absent from committee proceedings.
He urged opposition lawmakers to submit their nominations for the electoral reforms committee to the National Assembly speaker’s office.
The PPP chairman said the committee could provide a platform to address allegations of electoral rigging and introduce reforms before future elections.
“If you want concerns about rigging in future elections to be addressed, you must participate in the electoral reforms committee,” he said, calling on PTI lawmakers to join the process.
Bilawal maintained that the committee would serve little purpose without opposition participation. He added that the government was willing to engage with opposition parties and work towards electoral reforms through parliament.
Bilawal Seeks Briefing on Security and Economy
The PPP chairman also called for parliament to receive a briefing on developments concerning Pakistan’s security and economy.
He said lawmakers needed information about potential challenges facing the country in the coming days to better understand the situation and discuss the government’s response.
Bilawal also called for parliament to be taken into confidence regarding the implications of defence agreements signed by Pakistan and the possible risks facing the country.
Achakzai Calls for Political Reconciliation
Addressing the National Assembly, Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai urged the government to make parliament the country’s primary source of political power.
He said political parties would receive public support if they worked to strengthen the institution.
Achakzai also reiterated his demand for a committee to examine allegations of government corruption.
Calling for political reconciliation, he said existing political forces needed to move beyond past disputes rather than expect new players to emerge.
“Neither are you so good, nor are we so bad. Let us sit together,” he said, urging political rivals to engage in dialogue.
PPP Delegation Meets Opposition Leader
Separately, a high-level PPP delegation met Achakzai on Thursday and conveyed a message from Bilawal.
Former federal minister Syed Naveed Qamar and former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf met the opposition leader at the office of Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri. PTI senators were also present.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Ashraf said Achakzai had welcomed Bilawal’s message.
He urged PTI, founded by Imran Khan, to play its full role in parliament. He also linked the institution’s dignity to the holding of free and fair elections.
Ashraf called for the formation of parliamentary committees to introduce electoral reforms, noting that Bilawal had also advocated addressing the issue through parliament.
The former prime minister said the PPP had consistently worked to promote democracy.
The meetings highlighted calls from both government and opposition figures for greater parliamentary engagement, political dialogue and reforms ahead of future elections.
