PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has rejected reports circulating on social media that he has become engaged or is preparing to get married, saying no such development has taken place.
“Social media has gotten my baat pakki, engagement and wedding done. I clarify that nothing as such has taken place; neither do I know any Princess Gloria,” Bilawal said in a video statement.
He said any decision concerning his marriage would be formally announced by his family, urging the public to focus on more pressing issues rather than speculation on social media.
Bilawal also alleged that the reports were being circulated to divert public attention from important national issues.
Turning to the recent fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad, Bilawal criticised the federal government over the deaths of 14 infants in the incident.
“A minister, who wants to become the Gorbachev of Pakistan and divide our country into 30 pieces, cannot manage one hospital himself,” he said, apparently referring to Health Minister Mustafa Kamal.
Kamal is associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), which has been calling for Karachi to be made a separate province. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which governs Sindh, has strongly opposed the proposal.
Bilawal said the debate over creating new provinces should take place through constitutional and provincial forums rather than on the streets or at business gatherings.
“At a time when a Lahore minister is telling the businessmen of Lahore, ‘Make provinces and govern them’, at a time when the Sindh Assembly has taken a courageous stance and asserted that such discussions cannot take place on the streets or at business forums,” he said.
The PPP chairman maintained that any discussion or decision regarding the creation of new provinces should be taken up in the Sindh Assembly, noting that Sindh was the first province to join Pakistan.
Bilawal’s clarification came after reports claimed that the PPP chairman, the son of President Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was planning to marry into a European family.
Social media posts alleged that President Zardari had travelled to Liechtenstein, a small European state located between Switzerland and Austria, to discuss arrangements for his son’s wedding and set a date.
The reports further claimed that Bilawal’s prospective bride was a former Austrian princess.
On August 27, the Presidency said in a post on X that President Zardari had “proceeded abroad on a private visit” but provided no further details about his destination or the purpose of the trip.
