PESHAWAR: Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday urged the people to vote for his party to enable it to revive the economy and do away with the politics of divide and hatred.

“Ours is the only party that believes in the politics of serving people. After coming to power, we will bring about an economic revolution. We will provide 300 units of solar power to people free of charge, build 300,000 houses for the poor, regularise all slum areas, and ensure people’s access to modern education, quality healthcare and other facilities,” the PPP leader told a public meeting in Hayatabad area here.

He also announced that the PPP government would launch Mazdoor Card for the development of workers and Kisan Card for the uplift of farmers.

Mr Bilawal criticised his political opponents over their “reluctance” to campaign for the Feb 8 elections over the “flimsy excuses of cold weather and security threats.”

Insists Nawaz did nothing for poor as PM

He said the weather was fine, while the security issue was not new.

“We, too, have security issues but we’re not scared. We’re not running away from elections like them [political opponents],” he said.

The PPP leader said his party was contesting elections as part of its efforts to save the country when the latter faced serious economic, security and other issues.

He claimed that his party’s popularity was increasing across the country and the massive election rallies provided evidence for it.

Mr Bilawal said the PPP government would ensure the development of the people, especially women, youth, farmers and labourers.

“We have a concrete plan to serve labourers and industrial workers through Mazdoor Card and bring about an agricultural revolution through Kisan Card,” he said.

The PPP leader promised the establishment of public sector universities in every district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the launch of a programme to provide food to homeless and poor people.

He complained that young graduates are struggling to find jobs, and promised youth’s development.

“My grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and mother Benazir Bhutto, as prime ministers, did a lot for the poor people. I’ll fulfil their mission of people’s development,” he said.

Mr Bilawal said in the past, a prime minister belonging to the PPP was removed with the help of the judiciary, while terrorists were used to deny the party a level-playing field ahead of general elections.

He said PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif became the prime minister but couldn’t protect his government despite having his two-thirds majority in the National Assembly and later resorted to the narrative of “mujhe kyun nikala (why was I ousted?).”

The PPP leader said PTI chief Imran Khan was removed from the prime minister’s office through the democratic way of a no-confidence move in the National Assembly but he, instead of behaving in a democratic manner, chose to attack national institutions thereafter and thus, landing in jail.

“Our opponents insist they’re contesting election on the basis of their ‘good’ performance in the government. Actually, they’re claiming credit for our accomplishments,” he said.

Mr Bilawal said the PML-N claimed it turned the country into a nuclear power without realising that the atomic bomb was actually a gift of PPP founder and prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to the nation.

He also said the PML-N falsely took the claim for the launch of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project as all agreements for it were signed before Nawaz Sharif became the prime minister.

Mr Bilawal said whenever Asif Ali Zardari went to China as the country’s president, the PML-N was the first party to criticise him.

He added that the CPEC route was to go through the country’s underdeveloped and terror-hit areas, especially those in KP, but the PML-N government changed that plan altogether.

“They [PML-N government] altered the CPEC route just to cover Lahore. It wasted large sums of funds on the launch of the Orange Train service in the capital of Punjab,” he said.

The PPP leader said the Feb 8 election would actually take place between his party and the PML-N.

“The PML-N is a party of the elite, while the PPP represents the common man and the downtrodden,” he said urging the people to vote for his party for their development.

Mr Bilawal said voters should stop the PML-N from coming to power as Mr Sharif did nothing for the poor in his three terms as the prime minister.

PPP provincial president Syed Mohammad Ali Shah Bacha and senior vice-president Syed Ayub Shan also addressed the event.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2024