Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) said on Sunday that the party is expecting “justice” in the upcoming hearing on a presidential reference seeking to revisit the death sentence of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The reference, filed on behalf of former president Asif Ali Zardari in 2011, will be heard by a nine-member larger bench of the Supreme Court.
Addressing a workers’ convention in Kohat, Bilawal expressed hope that the Chief Justice of Pakistan would correct the “constitutional and legal mistakes” made in Bhutto’s case. He emphasized that the whole of Pakistan knows Bhutto was innocent and called for justice for the tragedy.
During the convention, Bilawal also discussed the upcoming general elections and criticized political parties for contesting the polls to solve their “personal problems.” He emphasized that the PPP is fighting the election to solve the problems of the people.
The PPP is calling on the Supreme Court to livestream the proceedings of the reference, with PPP Information Secretary Faisal Kareem Kundi stating that this would ensure that Bhutto finally gets justice.
Ahead of the hearing, Bilawal met with lawyers and legal experts from the Peoples Lawyers Forum to review the presidential reference. The reference, filed under Article 186(1) and (2) of the Constitution, seeks the Supreme Court’s opinion on the death sentence awarded to Bhutto. The last hearing on the reference took place in January 2012, under the leadership of then Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.