UPPER DIR  -  Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilaw­al Bhutto Zardari has said the people of Pakistan are being faced with a plethora of issues including high inflation, unemployment and poverty while the political leaders unfortunately are not sensing gravity of their pains.

Addressing a party workers’ convention in here on Tuesday, Bilawal said that the huge crowd has made the party proud. He thanked the people of Dir for attending the workers’ convention in large number. He said that they salute the loyalty of Dir residents, as they had supported PPP since the eras of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Bena­zir Bhutto. He said the manner with which the pol­itics of hate and division is being given space in the country is further harming it, he added. 

“We are not aware of what our traditional politi­cians intend to do, but their politics is harming the people. We have to leave this politics behind if we are committed to solve the problems of the peo­ple”, the PPP chairman said.

Addressing the audience, Bi­lawal said: “You have seen the real faces of Mehangai League [PML-N] and the PTI.” He went on to say that PML-N and PTI have the same goal. The PPP chairman said that PML-N wanted to take revenge af­ter coming into power. Bilaw­al said his party was unaware that the PML-N would take re­venge when they were coali­tion partners. The PPP Chair­man further said that he has experienced both the govern­ment and the opposition, and Pakistan has unparalleled po­tential. The only hindrance in exploring it is the politics of hate and division, as well as the egos of our traditional pol­iticians. They are not engaging in politics, rather are using it as a means of carrying out per­sonal vendetta against each other, he maintained.

“The politicians of Lahore es­pecially are of the viewpoint that ‘either they would play or no one else’. This is only caus­ing harm to the people. When the PDM government was formed, we chose to become a part of it because our intention was to combat fundamental problems including the econ­omy through the alliance. We had a good start as we came to power in a democratic man­ner and all institutions too an­nounced their neutrality, and were remorseful over the mis­takes made in the past”, the party chairman said.

As the PPP, we welcomed this and were under the im­pression that our allies were those who talked of ‘Vote Ko Iz­zat Do’ and the democracy. We joined hands with them to help the country emerge from the economic crisis, bring a pos­itive change and put a stop to the inflation. However, the eco­nomic crisis worsened with the changing finance ministers. 

As far as our political thought was concerned, we were hop­ing that true democracy would be restored but we, along with the young generation of the country was disappointed to witness no such progress. 

The people of Dir have made it apparent that they are ready for the elections. The people have now seen the real face of the PTI, along with the de­struction it brought along un­der the guise of ‘Tabdeeli’. The Mehengai League has too been exposed. The people have to give an opportunity to the PPP now, as they did in the past by electing Quaid-e-Awam Sha­heed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto, while simulta­neously changing the destiny of the country.

As an unarmed woman, Benazir Bhutto faced two dic­tators, and was successful only because her brothers from Dir stood with her. When given the opportunity again, we will again change the destiny of the people through hard work and dedication. The PPP has al­ways represented the down­trodden masses. The PPP gov­ernment is not of the elites, but the labourers, farmers and students. The people have suf­fered through the rest of the governments, be it the PML-N or PTI, who have never provid­ed any relief to the poor.

Bilawal vowed to increase salaries for all government em­ployees by a whopping 100 per cent if his party was given an­other chance at power.

“I have a plan. We have begun a pilot program in Sindh, the ‘Benazir Mazdoor Card’, which we wish to extend to the rest of the country”, Chairman Bilaw­al said. The purpose of the card is to provide health and educa­tional facilities to the labourers through the card, so that it can benefit all the hard-working people of the country, regard­less of them being from the pri­vate or public sector. He prom­ised that not only will the PPP establish a 500-bed hospital within six months, but will also make a hospital in every dis­trict. We will also open a medi­cal university. There is unlimit­ed potential in the country.

In all the districts of Kara­chi, we have opened ‘chest pain units’ and established free-of-cost cardiology hospitals all over Sindh. Through pub­lic-private partnership, we be­gan the Thar Coal Project and provided employment to the local men and women.