'Amnesty for rich, taxes and inflation for poor'

Party chairman slams 'anti-people' budget, resolves to continue fight for poor

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday slammed the ruling party's "anti-people IMF budget" and stated that while amnesty and bailouts have been provided for the rich, the poor of the country have been burdened with taxes, inflation and rising unemployment.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, the PPP chairman stated that he was willing to support the ruling party if they had introduced a fair and people-friendly budget. "We gave them a chance, but we cannot support a budget that is against the poor of the country," he added.

Bilawal also slammed the proposed cuts in higher education and health sectors and also mentioned social attacks in Punjab.

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"The federal government is snatching the rights of provinces. 60% Pakistanis reside in Punjab but there has been an immense cut in its budget. Punjab's labourers, aged pensioners and unemployed youth will bear the burden of their [PTI] incompetency. There was a Rs600 billion budget for Punjab previously and now it stands at Rs 200 billion," he added.

Bilawal also added that PPP will not compromise on their principles of helping the poorest of the country, no matter how many people from his family and party are sent to jail.

Stressing upon the need to jointly resolve issues, Bilawal said he had accepted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz's invitation and will be meeting her on Sunday.

"We have different perspectives but no single party can resolve the issues of the country alone," he added.