KARACHI - Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that the federal government should re-negotiate the terms of loans with the IMF, as its (the government’s) failure in resolving the economic issues is adding to the sufferings of people.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Urban Fertilization Project (UFP) here in Lyari on Tuesday, he said that March would witness the beginning of PPP’s protests against the ‘anti-people’ policies of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
The UFP, the first of its kind in Pakistan, is aimed at controlling the damage done to the environment by deforestation.
The PPP chairman said that he had been raising his voice against economic policies of the government since inception.
He was of the view that the appointment of IMF officials to important posts in Pakistan was tantamount to a conflict of interests, and that there could be no better way of describing the PTI government’s economic plan than calling it a PTIMF plan.
Bilawal Bhutto said it seemed that the federal government was bent upon bankrupting the ordinary citizens, taking away from them their homes, livelihoods and peace of mind.
The PPP chairman claimed that in stark contrast to the federal government, the PPP government in Sindh was doing its best to alleviate the sufferings of the common man regardless of caste, colour or creed.
He accused the federal government of withholding Rs140 billion from the Sindh government, it was entitled to under the NFC Award, and said that despite being denied its fair share of resources, the Sindh government was committed to serving the people.
PPP chairman further said that despite the passage of more than a year, and despite the tall claims made by the federal government that it would provide 10 million jobs, millions of people had been rendered jobless. “Instead of building five million new homes, houses of the poor are being demolished in the name of anti-encroachment drive,” he regretted.
“If the present government has anything to its credit, it is the conspiracy against the country’s only social safety net, the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), which provided monetary assistance to poor women,” Bilawal lamented.
PPP chairman instructed Sindh Chief Minister (CM) to take steps so that sports could resume at Lyari’s People’s Stadium. Sindh CM Syed Murad Ali Shah, Provincial Minister Nasir Hussain Hussain Shah, Saeed Ghani, Rashid Rabbani, Waqar Mehdi, Murtaza Wahab and other leaders of PPP were also present on the occasion.