ISLAMABAD   -  Pakistan People’s Party Chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari yesterday criticised the federal government for 30 percent rise in poverty rates, blaming the inepti-tude and apathy of the ‘puppet’ prime minister for the economic ruin. 

In a statement, the PPP Chairman said that 85 million Pakistanis had fallen below the poverty line under this government. “Prime Minister Imran Khan, it is time to wake up from your slumber and apathy. Every day, as many as 20 people are committing suicide due to economic hardships this government has put them under,” he added.

Bilawal asked how the federal government believed the common man would be able to make both ends meet with the annual rate of inflation exceeding 14 percent. 

“The cost of medicines have gone up 100 percent, leaving people to choose be-tween treatment and sustenance. The government rolls out amnesty schemes for the elite, whitening their ill-gotten gains, while the poor are told to be satisfied with langarkhanas,” he added.

The PPP chairman said that the people of Pakistan are unwilling to tolerate such back-crushing inflation, and that the ‘puppet’ prime minister’s plans to raise Rs 90 billion by increasing electricity rates would be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Bilawal added that if the rumours of firing 20 percent of the employees from the industrial sector after Eid become a reality, he feared the repercussions to the country.

“Imran Khan keeps blaming corruption, but he himself is patronising and pro-moting people accused of monumental corruption. His anti-people policies and ideology have brought the country to the brink of absolute economic ruin,” he added.

Meanwhile, former President Asif Ali Zardari has strongly condemned Israeli barbarism against Palestinians. He said that Israel is oppressing Palestine and India is oppressing Kashmiris. The hearts of the people of Pakistan beat with the Palestinian brothers.

In a statement, the PPP co-Chairman said that the judicial assassination of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto affected the unity of Muslims. Benazir Bhutto was the ad-vocate of the Palestinian people. She raised voice against the exploitation of Muslims at the United Nations, he added.

Zardari said that after the PPP government, the government of Pakistan did not pay attention to the issues regarding foreign affairs. “Imran Khan is putting blame of his incompetency on Pakistani diplomats. The UN should take notice of massacre of Palestinians and Kashmiris,” Zardari demanded.