PTI minister advises Zardari to ‘groom his son’

Fayyazul Chohan says Bilawal has been made party chairman but reads prepared speeches, mispronounces words

LAHORE: After PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari delivered his speech in Jamshoro on Saturday, Punjab Minister for Information and Culture Fayyazul Hassan Chohan said it seemed as if a third grader rote learned social studies and was performing for his teacher.

“He read his speech in the exact same style. I have been suggesting Zardari that instead of hiding his and Omni Group’s corruption he should focus on grooming his son. He [Bilawal] has become a politician and his party’s chairman, but is still reading written speeches and that too with errors in pronunciation,” said the provincial minister while addressing the media here in response to Bilawal’s speech.

Chohan said, “The PPP chairman said that Murad Ali Shah cannot be compared with Usman Buzdar. I fully agree to that that Murad and Buzdar cannot be compared because the former is a worker of Aal-e-Zardari, who handles money laundering of the Zardari family, while the latter is a cool-minded and tolerant chief minister, who is running the province with wisdom.”

Chohan criticised the PPP for appointing Qaim Ali Shah as the Sindh chief minister during its tenure, saying the leaders should have at least thought it through before imposing a pharaoh on the people.

Highlighting one of the blunders of the former CM, Chohan said, “He (Qaim) used to call ECL (Exit Control List) PTCL (Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd).”

He said there were two issues with Bilawal and Aal-e-Zardari -- Ayyan Ali and Patli Gali (escape route). At first, they make actors like Ayyan Ali launder money for them and then when they fear being caught, they try to flee to Dubai or London.

“Now, they are crying foul as Ayyan Ali is abroad and her name is on the ECL,” said the minister. “They compel poor 'haris' to attend their public gatherings. The poor farmers come to the PPP rallies fearing the landlords. You will never see any excitement in the gatherings of Zardari’s party. No one is there out of their free will.”

Chohan also blamed the PPP leadership for making a futile attempt to blackmail and malign the state and its institutions.

To Bilawal’s remarks that eggs and chickens could not support the economy, Chohan said, “I want to tell them that along with our efforts involving eggs and chickens, the PTI government will also extract plundered money from the 'bulls of corruption' and make our economy strong. The PTI will extract the money looted during the last 40 years, particularly the last 10, from their stomachs and bank accounts.”