With the opposition marking July 25 as a ‘Black Day’ when the public’s mandate was allegedly stolen in last year’s general election, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday came out, urging citizens to stand up against the “selected government”.
Addressing a public gathering in Jinnah Ground Karachi, Bilawal said July 25 would always be remembered as the day when a selected government was imposed on the public through blatant rigging.
The scion of the Bhutto political dynasty lambasted Prime Minister Imran Khan for “making the lives of Pakistani miserable”. “The government not only dropped an inflation bomb, but also shamed the country’s name on the international stage,” he said.
The PPP chief said democracy was under threat today, and added that no political party alone could find a solution to the ills plaguing the country at present. “Today, politics and not politicians alone are being targeted. Not poverty but the poor are being targeted,” he said. “Parliament and democracy are the targets. Not a few laws but the entire constitution is being targeted,” he said. “Today, we are formally initiating a disobedience drive against the government.”
Bilawal recalled that last year, opposition parties had decided to boycott parliament because of alleged election rigging, but it was the PPP that saved democracy by convincing them to be part of the august house. “We asked the opposition to come to parliament to save democracy,” he added. The PPP chairman said every Pakistani was in distress because of the economic malaise. He said the country was passing through economic crisis, and slammed the government for withdrawing farmers’ subsidy.
Bilawal thanked the masses for coming out in their droves on the call of the opposition, terming it the “clearest sign that this government has been rejected in their eyes”.
Opposition parties, Bilawal added, had always come together to fight for the nation’s interests in the past.
“Today, we have also banded together for the sake of the Pakistani people,” he said.
“We all have our own manifestos and political ideologies, but we all share the same patriotism,” the PPP chief added.
He said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had joined hands with parties it had previously called the country’s enemies.
“If you come into power after election rigging then what else can I call this government but selected,” Bilawal cried out to the crowd.
He claimed that PM Imran was “powerless” in forming his own cabinet, and was compelled to roll out a budget at the whims and wishes of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Bilawal asserted that the federal government was economically murdering all the provinces, as youth were being targeted by lack of employment. “Pakistanis are suffering due to incompetency of Prime Minister Imran Khan,” he continued.
He went on to say that awareness against the puppet and the ‘selected’ government should be spread.
