Claim: PPP’s leader Nafisa Shah disagreed with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s statement against older politicians, according to Geo News.
Fact: Nafisa Shah clarified that the article does not only misrepresent her own point of view, but also Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s statement in question. She clarified that “His viewpoint was not ageism nor that there should be no older politicians in the field, but to criticise [the] fossilised mindset of certain older politicians who have been tried and tested before. And there’s no two views on that.”
On 23 November 2023, Geo News falsely reported that the Pakistan People’s Party’s senior leader, Nafisa Shah, disagreed with party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto’s opinions regarding older politicians. The Urdu-language article claims that while speaking to the media in Khairpur, Shah claimed that politics should be a mix of both new and old politicians, adding that older politicians have more experience and regardless of their age, they are well-respected by the public.
The article goes on to claim that Bilawal Bhutto has recently asked older politicians to retire, focusing his criticism against PML-N’s Nawaz Sharif.. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s father, Asif Ali Zardari, also disagreed with his son’s statements in a talk show with renowned journalist Hamid Mir, the article adds.
Fact or Fiction?
On 23 November 2023, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressed a public rally in Chitral, where he made a statement against old politicians. He remarked how politicians have jeopardised national progress due to personal enmities.
The chairman further noted, “[Translation] This complaint or demand that I have been presenting recently to old politicians that they should just retire from politics, why do I do that? Firstly, it is not just my demand, it is a demand coming from the youth of Pakistan. This is a demand presented by 70% of the youth population… I respect my elders, but the reservation is not that these old politicians are old, but that they are still continuing the same old politics which has destroyed my country, the same politics which has been going on for 70 years.”
Quoting the Geo News article, which was shared on X (formerly, Twitter), Nafisa Shah said:
“Sadly once again #GeoNews has become propaganda machine spinning statements unnecessarily. Chairman PPP @BBhuttoZardari has rightly talked about new ways of doing politics and bringing forward youth leadership. His viewpoint was not ageism nor that there should be no older politicians in the field, but to criticise [the] fossilised mindset of certain older politicians who have been tried and tested before. And there’s no two views on that.”
Virality
The claim was also shared on Facebook. Some of the posts can be found here, here, and here.
On X, the tweet by Geo News Urdu was viewed 16,200 times.
Conclusion: PPP’s leader Nafisa Shah did not disagree with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s statements regarding older politicians.
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