Haroon Ur Rasheed, a prominent Pakistani journalist and editor in his talk show “Muqabil” on 25th April, made astounding claims that the United States allegedly plans to appoint Chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as the Prime Minister of Pakistan by 2028.
He further suggested that the fact that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and not Mushahid Hussain, was potentially going to be appointed as the foreign minister of Pakistan implied that something was brewing behind closed doors. Haroon argued that the only logical appointment on the portfolio for PML-N would have been Mushahid Hussain, who was a proponent of strengthening Pak-China friendship and has distinguished accreditations to his name.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will be taking oath as Foreign Minister on Wednesday – he follows in the footsteps of his grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who served as Foreign Minister from 1963-66 and then 1971-77. At 33 years, Bilawal will be Pakistan’s youngest ever foreign minister pic.twitter.com/eF2JEmjzOz
— omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) April 26, 2022
He added that only a few people in Pakistan understood foreign policy and international relations, and Mushahid Hussain was the best among them. Haroon backed his claims by adding that Mushahid had the foresight required in dealings pertaining to foreign relations. Finally, the journalist said that Mushahid was a well-rounded politician who has served or has been in the power circles for more than 40 years and hence understands it very well.
Senator Mushahid Hussain heads the Pakistan China Institute, a non-partisan and non-political think-tank working to promote people-to-people ties between Pakistan and China in all areas, particularly defense and diplomacy, education and energy, economy and environment.
Read more: Bilawal begged Nawaz for 10 NA seats: Shah Mahmood Qureshi
Hussain is also one of the very few people to see China’s transformation since the days of Chairman Mao and the only Pakistani to receive the award “five principles of peaceful coexistence” award by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Chinese president appreciated the contributions of Senator Mushahid Hussain in promoting understanding and friendship between the people of the two countries.
Bilawal Bhutto becomes foreign minister
On Wednesday, the Pakistan People’s Party Chairman and the grandson of the founder of the party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, took the oath to become the 37th Foreign Minister of Pakistan. In a Twitter post, Bakhtawar Bhutto – sister of Bilawal Bhutto – expressed her delight and said she “couldn’t be more proud of him.” As Bilawal Bhutto took oath today, he became the country’s youngest-ever foreign minister, following the footsteps of his grandfather, who served as the foreign minister from 1963 to 1966 and then from 1971 to 1977.
Today @BBhuttoZardari will take oath as Pakistan’s Foreign Minister in this unity government – decided by #PPP CEC & we couldn’t be more proud of him! Already outshone in Parliament & always stuck to his democratic values – excited to witness this path إِنْ شَاءَ ٱللَّٰهُ ♥️🤲
— Bakhtawar B-Zardari (@BakhtawarBZ) April 27, 2022
Previously Bilawal was reluctant to join the cabinet giving rise to speculations of a rift between the united opposition. However, according to sources privy to the matter, Bilawal had refused to take up a position within the federal cabinet before the inclusion of the members of other coalition partners, including Mohsin Dawar, in the first phase of the induction. Separately, many senior members within the party suggested that Bilawal should only hold the portfolio with Hina Rabbani Khar – former foreign Minister of Pakistan – as his deputy.
Serving alongside Khar, Bilawal is faced with the monumental task of restoring ties with the U.S., which were strained after the recent controversy of the alleged American involvement in ousting Imran Khan from power.
Read more: Bilawal to take oath to become youngest FM of Pakistan
Previously, in his talk show, Haroon Ur Rasheed also hinted at the possibility of an impending vote of no-confidence against the PTI government. His “suspicion” turned out to be accurate when PM Khan was ousted only a few months later.