Bilawal sees ouster of PTI govt due to 'destructive policies'

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto has predicted that the PTI-led government will collapse before completing its tenure due to its bad governance and gross mismanagement of economy.

“The government in Islamabad is about to fall because it is not a government of change but a destruction for the country and its people,” he said while referring to the ruling party’s manifesto of bringing the change to the country.

He was addressing a corner meeting in Kharmang district in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) on Monday for the upcoming election in the region which is scheduled to be held on November 15.

Over a dozen political and religious parties – including the country's three major parties Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) – are contesting the general elections.

The PTI, Bilawal said, is a party of liars which has made the lives of masses miserable and left them helpless amid unprecedented inflation.

He said the party's founder and his grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had announced to make the country a nuclear power in the same town of G-B during 1970s. “Now, due to this India cannot think of any misadventure against Pakistan due to nuclear deterrent.”

He expressed hope that the “honourable people” of G-B will elect his party into the power like they voted for his predecessors.

The PPP gave the voting and other rights to the people of G-B during its tenure in the federal government in the past, Bilawal said, adding that he would fulfil his promises that he made to the people of G-B during 2018 general elections.

“The PPP will give you your rights as we have given rights to every province through the 18th Amendment,” he said.

The scion of Bhutto dynasty while highlighting his government’s performance in Sindh promised that his party would provide similar facilities including free health care and education to the people of G-B.

During his stay in G-B until November 12, Bilawal will campaign for the party’s candidates in all 10 districts by addressing rallies, corner meetings and news conferences.

The elections on 24 general seats of the G-B Legislative Assembly, which were earlier scheduled for August 18, were postponed due to Covid-19 situation.

The five-year term of the previous assembly had ended on June 24, bringing an end to the five-year rule of the PML-N.

The opposition parties had already warned the federal government against any move to interfere in the G-B election terming it a sensitive matter and the warning was also mentioned in the 26-point declaration issued at the conclusion of the opposition’s September 20 all-party conference.

(With additional input from DNA)