‘Not asking anyone to bring govt down’: People will throw this govt out, says Bilawal

By Asim Yasin

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Friday said they were not going to any one for toppling the government, as they believe in the power of people.

Apparently referring to a statement by Prime Minister Imran Khan that the opposition parties were asking the Army to topple his government, Bilawal said his party would wait for the elections when people would throw them [PTI] out.

He was addressing a press conference at Zardari House, along with his party’s secretary general Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, PPP Parliamentarians Secretary General Farhatullah Babar, party’s Information Secretary Faisal Karim Kundi and Senator Palwasha Khan. Bilawal said that now the people would hold them accountable, as they were suffering due to the failed government. “The parents, who cannot help their children from being deprived of education, cannot provide bread and water due to the selected government; will not spare the prime minister,” he added.

He said the PPP believes in people and the parliament, and if the opposition parties lack the power to overthrow the government, then there would be elections and they would for the elections when people would grab them by the necks. “The focus of the entire nation is on the country’s economy,” he said.

The PPP chairman said the prime minister or his ministers have nothing to do with the common man. He said the government is not aware of the plight of the common man in every field. “The prime minister says the hard times are over, but that is only the case for his ATM machines,” he said.

On the other hand, he said the days of the common man are getting worse than before, and the PM claims that the economy is growing.

He said inflation in Pakistan is higher than in all of South Asian countries, but he says the economy is growing. “The people do not have two meals a day; the common man does not even have money for medicine and education,” he said.

Bilawal said he wish the PM knew what the problems of the people are. “If the economy is growing, then why are you begging in the world and why do you not kick the IMF out,’ he asked.

He asked when the prime minister says the GDP is increasing, then why beg from the Islamic countries. “When your economy is improving, then you will increase the salaries of government employees by 100 per cent, pensioners by 150 per cent and salaries of soldiers by 175 per cent,” he said, adding that the PPP hope that “if there is money, all the problems including hunger, poverty, shelter and unemployment will be solved in a week. After the budget, there will be canals of milk and honey in the country”.

The PPP chairman said now everyone, including Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, has started admitting the truth of the PPP’s position as former president Asif Ali Zardari used to say that NAB and economy cannot go hand in hand, and now the government has accepted this. “The finance minister himself says that the deal with the IMF was wrong, then why are you still with the IMF,” Bilawal asked the PM.

Bilawal said the rulers were afraid of the people and even today they were running away from the Azad Kashmir elections. “They also tried to cause trouble in the Senate, but the Election Commission took a stand and did not allow rigging,” he said.

He said now that efforts were being made to bring electoral reforms through ordinances and the Election Commission has to take action. “We will send a high-level delegation to the Election Commission to thwart this fraudulent attempt,” he said.

The PPP chairman said the PPP would not accept any electoral reform through ordinance. “The way the government promulgating ordinance and it was feared that one day the president will promulgate an ordinance for elections in the country through Facebook live,” he said in a lighter tone.

Bilawal said that there was not one Pakistan, but two under Prime Minister Imran Khan; one was for the prime minister from Raiwind, who despite a conviction, was allowed to live abroad, and the other for the president from Nawabshah, who is still living in the country, and refuses to go abroad for medical treatment, despite pleading of his children.

“There is one Pakistan for the opposition leader from Raiwind, and other for the leader of the opposition from Sukkur; the latter is being made to run from pillar to post just to get bail for over two years. It is flabbergasting for him and he is still looking for an answer,” he said.

He said the sister of former president from Nawabshah was being treated differently, and the sister of [incumbent] prime minister was being given a different treatment.

Bilawal announced that despite an inappropriate behaviour by some PML-N people, his party still wants to cooperate in the parliament with the opposition leader. “I unconditionally say to the opposition leader that all his members will support the opposition leader to thwart the budget.”

The PPP chairman said Prime Minister Imran Khan is again singing the tune of mafia and corruption. “Now the selected prime minister says that if he gets the next tenure, there will be accountability, which is a joke,” he said.

He said Imran Khan had said that he wanted Pakistan to be one; however, there is a double system here, which he is benefiting from. “This is political revenge and political engineering by the government. It is not a just system,” he added.

The PPP chairman said he would like to ask the prime minister where the accountability is and where is the justice “as when the prime minister’s friends are accused, they do not go to jail.

“If the prime minister himself is accused, nothing happens. If the prime minister’s sister is accused, nothing happens,” he said.

The PPP chairman said the media ordinance is an attempt to control the media like the dictator Ziaul Haq. “We have condemned the attack on Asad Toor and the petition against Asma Shirazi and Hamid Mir,” he said adding that the government is showing its weakness of not being able to tolerate the truth.

Bilawal called for a briefing on the situation in Afghanistan and said though a briefing was given in the Foreign Office, “we are not satisfied with it; so we demand a briefing to the Parliament, either creating a forum, be it a parliamentary committee or a speaker forms any committee, to take Parliament into confidence.

“The decision on Afghanistan is now up to the people through the parliament,” he said.

Replying to questions with regard to remarks of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) president about the PPP, Bilawal said Maulana Fazlur Rehman has the right to have his say. “The PPP has a relation of three generations doing politics with his party, and in spite of inappropriate behaviour by some PML-N people, the PPP still wants to cooperate in the parliament with the opposition leader,” he said adding that all his members’ support is for the opposition leader to thwart the budget.

The PPP chairman said if the parties in the PDM had been truthful in their resolve to tender resignations, they would have resigned the next day when we did not accept linking long march with resignations. “If they had to resign, they should have resigned then and they can still resign if they want to,” he said. He said those were facilitators of the government who had linked long march with tendering of resignations.

He said Punjab has been left at the mercy of Usman Buzdar.

In a reply to question, Bilawal said those were facilitators of the government who did not want to dislodge Imran and Buzdar despite having the numbers in the parliament to do so.

In a reply to another question with regard to Sindh protest on water distribution, he said fair distribution of water was essential not only for Sindh but for the entire country.

To another question, Bilawal said there was no pressure from anywhere on Asif Zardari to leave the country. “We as a family… me and my both sisters, were requesting him for medical checkup, but he was not willing to go abroad despite our request,” he added.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari alleged that Prime Minister Imran Khan failed to perform during the coronavirus pandemic. He demanded him to provide details of the spending of the funds received from different finance bodies and organisations to help the country recover from its health and economic crisis, caused by the virus.

“The prime minister stop manipulating the data of the Auditor General’s report and release it immediately as only then can the nation give its verdict on whether those funds were used wisely,” he said in a statement on Friday.

Bilawal said the IMF gave Pakistan one and a half-billion dollars. “Where was that aid spent,” he asked. He said where were the $1.5 billion, provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). “Where did Imran Khan exhaust the $200 million given by the World Bank and where are the billions of Pakistani rupees deposited in the Prime Minister’s Corona Relief Fund,” he questioned.