Bilawal didn’t expect ‘PML-N to react like PM Imran Khan’

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Saturday that he didn’t expect the PML-N to react like Prime Minister Imran Khan to Yousuf Raza Gillani’s appointment as the Senate opposition leader.

Bilawal’s statement came hours after PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz said that Gillani had been “selected” by the federal government.

“Opposition leader in the Senate is a very small post. You didn’t have to ask BAP (Balochistan Awami Party) for their votes,” she said. “If you wanted the post so badly then you could’ve asked Nawaz Sharif.

“The lines have been drawn now,” the PML-N vice-president said.

But the PPP chairman advised the PML-N to stay calm. “I will request my friends from the PML-N to have some water, take deep breaths and be patient.”

He said it was no secret that his party wanted Gillani to be the opposition leader.

“I know for whom the word selected can be used,” Bilawal remarked at a press conference in Karachi. He denied making any promises for the post.

The PPP chairman said he had respect for Maryam and didn’t want to comment on her. He, however, said that his party was concerned over the statements issued by PML-N leaders.

“Our people feel that the PPP is being pushed to the wall,” he said, wishing for the PDM to stay united.