PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday said his party didn't want to require the names of army generals at rallies because such moves could impact the integrity of national institutions, but accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of forcing the opposition to try to to so.
He made the remarks while chatting with reporters in Karachi after reviewing arrangements for the Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) square show, which is scheduled to be held within the city on Sunday.
At the opposition alliance's first joint rally in Gujranwala on Friday, the PPP leader had accused the premier of being "a puppet and selected”.
“In Karachi on Oct 18 we'll throw a challenge to the chosen and therefore the selectors,” he had remarked.
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Meanwhile, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, while addressing the PDM rally via video link from London, had accused the safety establishment of being behind his ouster as prime minister and of "bringing Imran Khan into power".
He named Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, alleging that they were liable for making a "state above the state" and for the presence of "two governments" within the country, among other things.
In his remarks today, Bilawal said the opposition wanted to ascertain national institutions, including the judiciary and therefore the military bureaucracy, to not be accused of any wrongdoing on every issue.
"It saddens me to ascertain generals' names being taken at rallies — whether those held by the prime minister or the opposition. This weakens the integrity of our institutions, which we don't want.
"But what can we do when the military is deployed at polling stations generally elections [and] Imran Khan says in every speech 'this or that institution is with me, we are all on an equivalent page'?" Bilawal asked, accusing the prime minister of using institutions as "political props".
"When we take the establishment's name, we realise that only today's generals or retired generals [are to not be blamed] but it's a neighborhood of our history that we either received dictatorship or a controlled democracy," he said, adding that the opposition wanted to ascertain complete and true democracy within the country.
The PPP chairperson said they wanted to ascertain every institution doing its own job and therefore the army "protecting the borders rather than polling stations".
He added that the opposition didn't want to ascertain the morale of the soldiers being affected but said the politicians, parliament, judiciary and military will need to work to stop such a situation.
Earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Imran lashed out at Nawaz for allegedly maligning the highest army leadership, saying the PML-N supremo himself was embarked on politics through the assistance of the military establishment.
Hinting at adopting a stricter line against opposition leaders within the future, Imran said the PML-N leader was using inappropriate "language" against the military and ISI chiefs at a time when Pakistani soldiers were constantly sacrificing their lives for the state .
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