KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is expected to leave for Washington on January 18 to attend US President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
According to sources, Bilawal will leave for US on a four-day visit on the invitation of Joe Biden to attend his oath-taking ceremony that will take place in Washington on January 20. During his meeting, Bilawal is also expected to meet prominent US senators and other prominent officials.
PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and former president Asif Ali Zardari have been invited to Joe Biden’s inauguration. However, Asif Zardari is not attending due to his frail health and his name is placed on the Exit Control List (ECL).
The US Congress had formally certified Biden’s election victory on January. Immediately after the certification, White House released a statement from Trump in which he pledged an “orderly transition” on January 20 when Biden will be sworn into office.
US law enforcement agencies securing Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration swearing-in ceremony have dramatically scaled up their security.
The quadrennial event will be a more solemn affair on the steps of the Capitol building. The ceremony had been scaled back due to the COVID-19 pandemic and far fewer people are expected to attend the event due to the bulked-up security detail.
Organisers had already scrapped the two-century-old tradition of a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House, lunch with Congress and evening parties celebrations.
Biden is expected to take a train from Delaware and be administered the oath of office at a socially distanced event that organisers are telling people to watch on television.
He will be escorted part of the way to the White House by ceremonial military troops. Later, he will visit Arlington National Cemetery, a military cemetery, with three former US presidents.
