ISLAMABAD   -  Pakistan People’s Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said yesterday that former president Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif could not be compared as one was standing strong in the country while the other was living a luxury life abroad.

Speaking at a news conference here, Bilawal said even the law for a former prime minister from Raiwind and a former president from Nawabshah was different.

“The former PM from Raiwind (Nawaz Sharif) despite a conviction was allowed to live abroad and the former president from Nawabshah (Asif Ali Zardari) is still living in the country and refuses to go abroad for medical treatment. There is one Pakistan for the leader of opposition from Raiwind (Shehbaz Sharif) and other for the leader of opposition from Sukkur (Khurshid Shah) who has been thrown from pillar to post just to get bail for over two years,” he said. 

Farhatullah Babar, Syed Nayyer Hussain Bukhari, Senator Palwasha Khan and Faisal Karim Kundi were also present on the occasion.

The PPP chief alleged the federal government had ruined the country’s economy. “When your economy is improving, then you will increase salaries of government employees by 100 percent, pensioners by 150 percent and salaries of soldiers by 175 percent. We hope that if there is money, all the problems including hunger, poverty, shelter and unemployment will be solved in a week,” he said. 

In spite of inappropriate behavior by some PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz) people, the PPP still wants to cooperate in the parliament with the opposition leader (Shehbaz Sharif). All the PPP members will support the opposition leader (in the National Assembly) to thwart the upcoming budget,” he assured.

“Now everyone, including (Finance Minister) Shaukat Tarin, has started admitting truth of the PPP’s position. Former President Zardari used to say that the NAB (National Accountability Bureau) 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 (International Monetary Fund) was wrong. If it is wrong, why are you still with the IMF,” he questioned.

The PPP chairman said that the Prime Minister was again singing the tune of mafia and corruption. “Now the PM says that if he gets the next tenure, there will be accountability, which is a joke. The PM had said that he wants Pakistan to be one. However, there is a double system here and he is one of the beneficiaries. There is political revenge and political engineering by this government. It is not a just system.

I ask the Prime Minister where the accountability is and where is the justice? If 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 added. Bilawal said that the people will hold the government accountable. 

“The people are suffering due to this failed government. The parents, who cannot help their children from being deprived of education, cannot provide bread and water due to this selected government; will not spare the prime minister,” he added. 

The PPP, he said, believed in the people and the parliament. If the opposition parties do not have the power to overthrow this government, then there will be elections and then the people will grab their members by the necks. The focus of the entire nation is on the country’s economy.

He said the Prime Minister or his ministers had nothing to do with the common man. “The government of Pakistan 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 (Automated Teller Machine),” he added. 

On the other hand, he said, the days of the common man were getting worse than before and the Prime Minister claims that the economy was growing. 

“Inflation in Pakistan is higher than in all of South Asia, but the PM 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. I wish the Prime Minister 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. 

Bilawal said when the prime minister claims the Gross Domestic Product is increasing then “why beg from Islamic countries.”

The PPP chief said that the rulers were afraid of the people and even today they were running away from the Azad Jammu Kashmir elections. “They also tried to cause trouble in the Senate but the Election Commission took a stand and did not allow rigging. Now that efforts are 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 fraud attempt,” he said.

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

Bilawal called for a briefing on the situation in Afghanistan. “We demand that you create a forum, be it a parliamentary committee or a speaker, to take Parliament into confidence. The decision on Afghanistan is now up to the people through the parliament,” he said.

To question, Bilawal said that Pakistan Democratic Movement chairman Maulana Fazlur Rehman had the right to his views. “The PPP has a relation of three generations doing politics with Maulana Fazlur Rehman. In spite of inappropriate behavior by some PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz) people, the PPP still wants to cooperate in the parliament with the opposition leader (Shehbaz Sharif). All the PPP members will support the opposition leader (in the National Assembly) to thwart the upcoming budget,” he assured.

The PPP chief said if the parties in the PDM had been truthful in their resolve to tender resignation, they would have resigned the next day when “we did not accept linking long march with resignations.” 

If they had to resign, he said, “they should have resigned then and they can still resign if they want to. Punjab has been left at the mercy of (Chief Minister) Usman Buzdar. Fair distribution of water is essential not only for Sindh but for the entire country. The facilitators of the government are those who do not want to dislodge Imran and Buzdar despite the fact that numbers are there in the parliament to do so,” he said.

Bilawal accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of failing to perform during the coronavirus pandemic. “The government gathered funds from numerous organizations to help the country recover from its health and economic crisis caused by the virus. However, seeing the current state of the nation, it is evident the funds were utilized elsewhere.  

He demanded the prime minister stop manipulating the data of the Auditor General’s report and release it immediately. Only then can the nation give its verdict on whether those funds were used wisely.

“To fight the Coronavirus epidemic, IMF gave Pakistan one and a half-billion dollars. Where was that aid spent?” questioned the PPP Chairman. 

“Where were the 1.5 billion dollars provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) spent? Where did Imran Khan exhaust the 200 million dollars given by the World Bank?” he demanded. “Where are the billions of Pakistani rupees deposited in the Prime Minister’s Corona Relief Fund,” he said.