Liaquat Ali
Islamabad: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari this week dismissed social media reports about his alleged engagement and marriage, saying no such development had taken place and urging the public to focus instead on the country’s real issues.
“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, referring to speculation that had spread across social media about his purported marriage to a European woman.
The PPP chairman said that if there was ever a decision concerning his personal life, it would be announced by his family.
“If any such decision about my life is made, the announcement will come from my family. Till then, focus on the real issues and ignore the social media fuss,” he said.
Bilawal suggested that the intense speculation about his personal life was being used to divert public attention from more pressing national concerns.
He pointed specifically to the tragic fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad, in which 14 infants reportedly lost their lives, and criticised the government’s handling of the incident.
“A minister, who wants to become the Gorbachev of Pakistan and divide our country into 30 pieces, cannot manage one hospital himself,” Bilawal said, in an apparent reference to Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal and his political position on the country’s administrative structure.
The reference to Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, was apparently aimed at Kamal’s association with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), which has advocated the creation of a separate province comprising Karachi. The PPP, which governs Sindh, has strongly opposed such a proposal.
Bilawal also criticised what he described as growing calls for the creation of new provinces outside the constitutional and parliamentary framework.
“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 chief maintained that any debate or decision concerning the creation of new provinces should take place through the relevant provincial assemblies and constitutional forums.
He particularly highlighted Sindh’s historical position, noting that it was the first province to formally join Pakistan.
Bilawal’s statement followed days of speculation on social media and reports that he was preparing to marry into a European family.
The rumours gained further traction after reports claimed that President Asif Ali Zardari had travelled to Liechtenstein, the small European principality situated between Switzerland and Austria, to discuss arrangements for his son’s marriage.
Some versions of the reports went further, claiming that Bilawal’s prospective bride was a former Austrian princess and identifying her as “Princess Gloria”.
The Presidency, however, offered no details about the purpose of Zardari’s trip. On August 27, it posted on X that the president “has proceeded abroad on a private visit”, without disclosing his destination or the nature of the visit.
The speculation subsequently spread rapidly across social media, prompting Bilawal himself to issue the unusually direct clarification.
His intervention appeared designed to close the issue while simultaneously redirecting attention towards matters he considers politically and socially more consequential — from the deaths of infants at a major public hospital to the increasingly contentious debate over the creation of new provinces.
For now, Bilawal has made his position clear: the marriage reports are unfounded, and any future announcement concerning his personal life will come from his family rather than social media.
