When will the good days come? Bilawal asks PM

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari rejected on Thursday the sharp rise in the prices of petroleum products and asked Prime Minister Imran Khan when the nation would witness the “good days” promised over the years.

Commenting on the government’s decision to increase petrol prices by Rs5 per litre, the Bhutto scion said, “[PM] Imran Khan has ‘robbed’ the people by bringing petrol price to the highest level in the history of the country.”

When the value of the dollar and petrol is at the highest level, the chairman said, everything goes out of reach of the people.

“Where did those big claims of providing relief to the people after the budget go,” Bilawal questioned the premier.

The PPP chairman said those who came to power by lying about providing cheap petrol were defending it today despite the fact that the prices struck all-time highs.

“Billions of rupees collected from increase in prices of petroleum products will be squandered by this ‘incapable’ PTI government in corruption,” he said.

Meanwhile, in a joint press conference by PPP’s Central Information Secretary Shazia Marri and Faisal Karim Kundi, the party rejected the recent hike in the prices of petroleum products.

Predicting that inflation rate would further go up, Shazia said the increase in the rates of commodities was unprecedented during the three years of PTI government, which continued to oppress the people.

On the locking of press gallery during President Arif Alvi’s address to parliament’s joint sitting, Shazia said National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar had ordered to close the press gallery and later said that it was closed after consultation with the Parliamentary Reporters Association (PRA).

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However, she said, the elected members of PRA denied the speaker’s statement, adding that such a complete blackout was a regrettable act of the “incompetent Niazi government”.

“This was the first time parliament's press gallery was closed,” she said. “It was not closed even during the regimes of dictators in the country.”

In addition, the PPP leader questioned how it was possible that Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry was unaware about the closure of the press gallery for media persons. “It is a highly condemnable act of the PTI government,” she said.

Shazia maintained that the government was trying to impose ban on the media and freedom of speech in the country, saying PPP had already rejected the Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA).

Commenting on legendary artist Umar Sharif’s health issues, Shazia noted that the actor repeatedly appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan for his medical treatment but the premier did nothing for him while the Sindh government sent its representative to Sharif's house to enquire about his health.

The Sindh government has sanctioned Rs40 million for his treatment from USA, she said.

On PTI's federal minister statement that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should be “set on fire” Shazia said the statement came because the polls supervisor had raised objections on the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). “We strongly condemn such things against the ECP,” she said.

On this occasion, PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi said that upcoming local government elections would be a test for all the political parties. He said the PTI government was “running away” from the LG polls while the people of PML-N and PTI were joining the PPP.

He alleged that PM Imran wanted confrontation between the institutions, pointing out that and production orders for PPP leader Khursheed Shah and MNA Ali Wazir were not issued in the joint session of the National Assembly.

“The way to get rid of the government is to remove it through a no-confidence motion,” he said.