PPP ready for general elections: Bilawal Bhutto

PTI urges President to announce polls date without any delay.

 

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD  -  Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhu­tto Zardari said Friday that even before the an­nouncement of the gen­eral election schedule, all the development funds including rehabil­itation projects for flood victims in Sindh are be­ing frozen and officers are being transferred. 

The PPP leader also demanded the Elec­tion Commission of Pa­kistan (ECP) to look into why the duplici­tous policy is being run only against Sindh, and why the above rules and regulations are not being implemented in the Centre, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He stated this while talking to report­ers during his visit to the residence of par­ty’s Ex MNA late Sher Muhammed Baloch in Dawood Goth area of Malir and extended his condolence to the be­reaved family.

Speaking to the me­dia, Chairman Bilaw­al Bhutto Zardari said that the date of the election has not been announced yet, but the ECP is exercising pow­ers that are not with­in its discretion. “I de­mand that restrictions on development work in Sindh be lifted, and until the ECP an­nounces the schedule of upcoming gen­eral election, the ban on development work should be lifted”, he demanded and adding that the funds for the flood victims shouldn’t be frozen in Sindh alike in Punjab and the centre.

The PPP chairman said that the ECP should announce the date of the next general elections without delay. He said that there is a difference of opinion among the PPP, ECP and PDM on the in­terpretation of the constitution regard­ing the holding of general elections, add­ing that the PPP believes that according to the constitution it is necessary to hold elections within 90 days, but the ECP and other parties maintain that it is nec­essary to delimit the constituencies be­fore the elections. To a query regarding Maulana Fazal Rehman’s recent state­ment, Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that his party was ready for elec­tions earlier and as well as today, adding that PPP was ready for election on May 14 and also within 60 days. This ques­tion should be asked to those who run away from every election.

In response to a journalist’s question about the meeting of the business com­munity with the COAS General Asim Mu­nir, Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the businessmen’s meeting with the army chief is not a new thing in the country, as the business commu­nity has been meeting military chiefs in the past as well. “The country’s business community has access to politicians and bureaucracy, including the army chief and the judiciary,” he continued.

Chairman PPP said that the people of the country do not have direct access to the judiciary or anyone else, but the people have access to the PPP. “The peo­ple are crying and saying that they are drowning in the tsunami of inflation. They cannot pay the electricity bill, they cannot get treatment for their elders. The people demand that these problems be solved,” he dded and furthered that PPP represents the people, and people’s problems can be solved only by PPP. “PPP has a manifesto, (and) a track re­cord. We have always served the peo­ple,” he pointed out.

In response to a reporter’s question, Chairman PPP said that a politician who based his politics on the narrative that he will put everyone (politicians) in jail, today himself is in jail and this is a mes­sage for all politicians. “This is also a clear message for those who are ready to make puppets all the time,” he added.