THATTA: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that the option of dialogue at national level is possible only after the prime minister steps down.

“Once the incumbent anti-people and illegitimate puppet prime minister steps down, this will pave the way for such a dialogue,” he told a press conference here on Sunday. He said Imran Khan only wanted to save his position.

The PPP chairman was on a visit to Thatta to offer his condolences to the family of the late Aijaz Ali Shah Sheerazi, a former adviser to the Sindh chief minister. He was accompanying Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, ministers Nasir Hussain Shah and Sohail Anwar Siyal and other legislators and party leaders.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari said that the only platform for the national dialogue would be the parliament, but before any such dialogue, the prime minister would have to resign so that a political solution to the issues being faced by the masses could be found.

Criticising the federal government for its “poor performance”, he said that every segment of society, including farmers, labourers, small traders, students and doctors, were fed up with it. “People are unable to send their children to schools and buy them essentially required commodities, medicines etc due to inflation and unemployment,” he said, and added that this situation had emerged due to incompetence of the “puppet” prime minister.

He argued that the prime minister could not even provide relief to workers by increasing their salaries nor could it raise pension of the retired people. On the other hand, he noted, electricity and gas tariffs were being increased. In this situation, he said, people should have an opportunity to choose someone else for the slot of PM who could solve their issues.

The PPP chairman said that Imran Khan had pushed the country’s economy in a shambles as its growth rate had fallen even below the rates being maintained by Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

He said the PTI government had announced more incentives for the construction sector and he pleased “mafias” by extending bailout packages worth billions of rupees to them. “He is pleasing the rich, but is not ready to do anything for the poor,” he added.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari strongly condemned the killing of more than 10 coal miners in Machh, Balochistan, and asked the government to ensure safety and security of workers. He demanded implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) which, he noted, was totally forgotten by the present government.

“Ever since the current government has come to power, we have been witnessing escape of terrorists from the custody of law enforcement agencies,” he claimed.

Such tragic incidents would not have happened had the prime minister and his interior minister fulfilled their responsibilities, instead of victimising the opposition and threatening the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leaders, he said.

In reply to a question, he said that PDM was very much intact. “The PPP central executive committee has ratified all decisions of the PDM,” he said, adding that “the victory of the PPP is the victory of the PDM; and the victory of the PDM is the pride of people”.

He made it clear that be it the matter of by-elections or any other issue, all decisions would be taken with consensus [by the PDM].

He said this “puppet regime” could only target the 18th Constitutional Amendment, NFC Award, Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) or such other things that were beneficial to the masses.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari reaffirmed PPP’s key role in the struggle against the federal government’s move to occupy provinces’ islands.

He also deplored that in spite of the fact that Sindh and Balochistan were producing much of the country’s natural gas, they were not getting their fair share in it.

Published in Dawn, Jannuary 4th, 2021