ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan People Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday held a meeting in London with the country's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, congratulating him over the removal of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) administration through a no-confidence vote.
He maintained the PPP and Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party had joined forces in the past to restore democracy when the country was ruled by General (r) Pervez Musharraf.
The May 2006 Charter of Democracy was signed by the top leaders of the two parties in London which later galvanized their workers and supporters to launch a collective struggle to bring down the Musharraf regime.
"We have made history again," the PPP leader said while addressing a joint news conference with Sharif.
Referring to ex-PM Imran Khan, he said that an "undemocratic person had been imposed on Pakistan" who was removed by adopting constitutional means.
Bhutto-Zardari noted that Pakistan was "at a crossroads" and could either move toward democracy or repeat the mistakes of the past.
Sharif thanked the PPP leader for traveling to London for a meeting with him while blaming ex-PM Imran Khan and his PTI party for destroying the political culture of the country.
He also blamed the previous administration of ruining Pakistan's economy, saying "it will not be an easy task to stabilize the Pakistani rupee."
Prior to their meeting, the PPP chairman told a group of journalists at his hotel that the PTI administration had been pursuing the agenda to undo democracy in Pakistan.
"We have removed Imran Khan, but the damage he has done to democracy, economy and foreign policy persists, and we need to jointly fight against it," he said while explaining the reason behind his planned meeting with Sharif.
Asked about Pakistani state institutions which had become "controversial" in recent weeks, he said: "We managed to move away from controversial to constitutional in the past as well. That transition is once again required in the country."
The PPP chairman, who was also accompanied by his other party leaders, is likely to hold another meeting with Sharif on Friday.
