Bilawal not joining Sharif’s cabinet gives rise to speculation about his reluctance to work under him

PTI

Islamabad, April 19

Pakistan’s Bhutto-Zardari family’s scion Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the front-runner for the coveted post of the foreign minister, did not take the oath on Tuesday, giving rise to speculation about his reluctance to join the government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Bilawal, 33, is chairman of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) which is the second largest party in the current coalition government of Prime Minister Sharif who was appointed on April 11.

The cabinet formation was delayed for days due to differences among the coalition parties, mainly due to the initial refusal by the PPP to join the cabinet. However, Shehbaz ensured that Bilawal’s party joined his government.

But the absence of Bilawal in the first phase of cabinet formation raised many eyebrows because he was tipped to become the foreign minister.

Sources in the PPP said that Bilawal is still reluctant to join the cabinet because it may hinder his political activities ahead of elections which are likely to be held by the end of the year. But the prime minister is adamant that he should join.

Bilawal’s PPP and Sharif’s PML-N—the two main political parties—have been alternatively in power when the military was not ruling the country. The powerful Army has ruled the coup-prone country for more than half of its 75 plus years of existence.

Another source said that Bilawal’s father Asif Ali Zardari had made promises with political parties ahead of the no-confidence vote against Imran Khan and Bilawal would like to ensure that all parties supporting the government should be accommodated in the cabinet before joining it.

Citing its sources, the Express News portal said that there was no deadlock between the PPP and PML-N over the foreign minister’s post.

They said Bilawal would travel to London to meet former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif. He will take oath as foreign minister after his return from London.

The cabinet formation shows that all major coalition partners have been offered something.

If Bilawal joins the cabinet, it would be for the first time that he would be a minister. He was elected to Parliament in 2018 for the first time.

Bilawal is son of former two-time Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and former president Zardari. His maternal grandfather, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, also served as prime minister.

Going further back in history, Zulfiqar Bhutto’s father Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto was Prime Minister (Diwan) of the state of Junagardh at the time of partition.

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