Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari asserted on Sunday that the nation couldn't entrust its future to "traditional and old" politicians amidst unprecedented poverty and unemployment.
Speaking at an election rally in Lahore, which political analysts termed a historic one, Bilawal pledged to establish a truth and reconciliation commission, advocating an end to politics characterized by insults, edicts, and accusations of treason if the PPP assumed the next government.
Acknowledging the current hardships faced by the people, including inflation, poverty, and unemployment, Bilawal criticized politicians who had previously held power, accusing them of forgetting their promises.
Emphasizing a departure from 1990s-style politics, he urged a shift toward the principles embodied by his late mother, Benazir Bhutto, rather than those of military rulers Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf.
Expressing a desire to introduce fresh perspectives to politics and steer the country in a new direction, Bilawal called upon the people of Lahore, Punjab, and Pakistan to support this transformative approach.
Running for a National Assembly seat from Lahore, NA-127, he highlighted a perceived conspiracy that had detached the PPP from Lahore and Punjab, adversely affecting workers, farmers, youth, women, and minorities in the province.
Sometimes a ‘Show Baaz’ [pretentious] was imposed on Punjab and sometimes a Wasim Akram-Plus,” he said, referring to two former chief ministers of Punjab, Shehbaz Sharif and Usman Buzdar, respectively.
Questioning whether the fate of Lahoris was to be repeatedly dominated by these individuals, he urged the electorate to support a new vision, envisioning a collectively built Pakistan as a model of development.
Bilawal said that PPP was the only party which had always fulfilled the promises it made to the people. to give credence to his statement, he referred to former prime minister late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who, he said, fulfilled the promise of Roti, Kapra aur Makan (food, clothing and shelter].
Read more: Bilawal fires broadside at opponents
“The [Pakistan] People's Party intends to adopt the narrative of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, once again. If the people give the party an opportunity to serve, the party will implement its charter,” he said referring to the party’s 10-point electoral agenda.
“By eliminating 17 federal ministries at the Centre, Rs300 billion will be saved annually, which will be spent on the people. Currently, the elite enjoys subsidies worth Rs1,500 billion. This will be withdrawn and the money will be spent on the people, workers, farmers and students,” he said.
Elaborating further on the PPP manifesto, he promised to double the people’s incomes in five years, build 3 million houses across the country and give their ownership to women, and provide free electricity up to 300 units to the downtrodden masses.
The PPP chairman acknowledged that at present, Pakistan faced an unprecedented economic crisis. “People are suffering because of the economic crisis on the one side, social and political crises spur on the other,” he added. “There are security challenges as terrorists are trying to re-emerge,” he said.
پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری لاہور کے ٹاؤن شپ کرکٹ گراؤنڈ میں جلسہ عام سے خطاب کررہے ہیں@BBhuttoZardari #چنو_نئی_سوچ_کو #LahoreBhuttoKa pic.twitter.com/NfKYC6AsGj
— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) January 21, 2024
Also read: Bilawal says not afraid of ‘politicians from Lahore’
In these circumstances, Bilawal warned, those doing the politics of hatred and division were not “our well-wishers”. He vowed to bury the politics of hatred and division forever with the support of the people.
He said that he is contesting the election from Lahore because the city was called “the heart of Pakistan, and home of the proud, courageous and loyal people”, adding: “At present, the country’s heart is broken, and we have to heal its wounds.”
Addressing the young people, he asked them to make people aware of the importance of voting. He said that it was his dream that no person, whether a child or an elderly, sleep on empty stomach. Therefore, the PPP would introduce a programme to eradicate hunger from the country.
Addressing the workers of the rival parties, Bilawal said that the PTI founders were repeatedly told to desist from politics of hurling abuses at the rivals, and throwing daughters and sisters of political opponents in jail.
Similarly, he added that the PML-N fought the dictatorship of Pervez Musharraf by raising the slogan of ‘respect for the vote’. He invited them, saying that “I will respect your vote.” He added that he did not want any political worker to go through the ordeal that the PPP workers endured.
لائیو: پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی کا لاہور کے ٹاؤن شپ کرکٹ گراؤنڈ میں جلسہ عام https://t.co/bh53LzeZDe
— Pakistan Peoples Party - PPP (@PPP_Org) January 21, 2024
“I have gone through the oppression. My family, my relatives have seen this cruelty,” he said. “PTI workers, come support us, I will bury the politics of revenge. If our government is formed, I will form a truth and reconciliation commission. I will end the politics of hatred,” he said.
On the occasion, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari also addressed the rally and praised the exemplary participation of the ‘Zinda Dalan-e-Lahore’ in the gathering. She said that the people of Lahore had proved that they were the lovers of democracy and like new thinking in politics.
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