Bilawal ramps up efforts to woo PTI voters

HYDERABAD:

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has urged disheartened workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and other political parties not to waste their votes by staying at home on election day.

Talking to the media on Monday in Qambar-Shahdadkot district, where he is running for NA-196, he urged the people to help the PPP's ‘arrow’ to hunt the ‘lion’ of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

"Together, we will thwart the conspiracy for the fourth time [to elect Nawaz Sharif as prime minister]."

He mentioned that while the PPP, as a matter of principle, can never endorse the denial of the election symbol to a party, in the case of the PTI, the party's legal team and current leaders were actually responsible for losing the case in the apex court.

He objected to blaming the Supreme Court for keeping the PTI out of the electoral contest by not allocating the symbol of 'Bat', arguing that the party's legal team failed to provide documentary evidence to substantiate their claims in the court.

Bilawal noted that the PTI’s incumbent leaders did not properly conduct the party's election. He advised the party's workers to try to realise who among their ranks could be held responsible for the state of affairs.

Replying to a question he asserted that no power in the country wanted to see postponement of the February 8 general elections. He recalled that Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa had given a categorical order in this regard.

"Those who were mistaken that elections won't they will suffer losses. Those who tried to delay the polls will also suffer losses. And those who wanted to run away from the polls will get an answer from the people on February 8."

Read more: Bilawal hails return of two-party system

 

Level playing field

The PPP’s chairman lamented that the interim government in Punjab was denying a level-playing field to his party's candidates at the behest of the PML-N.

He asked the apex court and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take notice. He contended that the provincial government is taking the wrong advantage of the leeway it has been given to continue a crackdown against the PTI's leaders and workers.

Bilawal said seven of his party's candidates have been denied the symbol of 'arrow' under pressure from the N-league. The constituencies include NA-59, NA-122, PP-20, PP-21, PP-119 and PP-163. "Fayaz Bhatti, a candidate on PP-163 which falls under the NA-127 seat from where I am contesting, has also been denied the arrow symbol.

"‘PML-N wants solo match’He went on to accuse the PML-N that it has been shying away from politics and a fair electoral battle, saying that they want to keep the opponents out of the pitch so that they can play the match alone.

"I want to tell you that PML-N's politics is no longer democratic. They have reverted to the old political tactics which you all had witnessed in 1990, 1997 and 2013 as to how they were brought into the government and how they run the government."

However, he warned that he will not only confront the PML-N but he will fail their all conspiracies and will form the PPP's government in the centre after the elections.

Read more: Bilawal pledges to build 3m houses

 

Two million homes

The PPP's chairman again bemoaned that despite his repeated attempts to highlight the issue and to seek its redressal, the caretaker government continued to ignore it.

He claimed that he was given assurances by the ECP and the other authorities that the election process would not affect the work of constructing homes for the flood-affected people and giving them ownership rights.

According to him, during the Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) coalition government, the Sindh government was given a commitment that the federal government would contribute half the cost of the rehabilitation and construction.

He deplored that not a single of those assurances is materialising.
"... the construction process has slowed down and the process of giving ownership rights [to women of the affected families] has been stopped altogether."

He demanded that the ECP and the caretaker Sindh government continue the work for the construction of homes and giving of the ownership right, pointing out that the delay will not only increase the cost but will also keep the affected people homeless.