Lahore, 19 Sept /DNA/ – Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited the residence of renowned journalist, Imdad Soomro to condole the passing of his father. Addressing on the occasion, he also responded to questions asked by the media.
Responding to a question, Chairman Bilawal said that a full court hearing of the Practice and Procedure Act 2023 case is an appropriate decision as it deals with the supremacy of the Parliament and the court itself has a stake in it. As far as the Party’s reservations regarding a level playing field are concerned, we have empowered President Zardari to address them. Our demand of a level playing field is from the PML-N. The responsibility and authority of announcing the date and schedule of the elections lies with the Election Commission and no one else. Our Central Executive Committee has demanded for the election schedule and date to be announced immediately. The law is clear on development funds, federal, provincial and local budgets. If schemes have been approved and are budgeted, then they should continue, perhaps it would not have been so concerning had it been a question of 90 days only but even the election date has not been announced yet. It cannot be so that the budgeted schemes in Sindh are not allowed to continue but federal projects are, including those of the past, ongoing ones, as well as new initiatives. The caretaker government in Punjab has even taken a new initiative, which is to provide interest-free loans to judges so that they can buy plots. This puts a moral, legal and constitutional obligation on the ECP to ensure that there is a level playing field in the center as well as the provinces. If there are to be no new or ongoing schemes in Sindh, then it should be the same in the rest of the province. The perception that people are not joining or are leaving the PPP is wrong since we have people joining us every day. All the NAB cases are old and baseless and will have no impact on the upcoming elections.
Chairman Bilawal said that it is an honor for him to have served as the youngest foreign minister of the country and reestablish ties with age-long allies of the country and create new ones with other nations. It is a huge allegation that the Canadian government has accused India of killing a Sikh Canadian citizen on its soil, which should have been highlighted by the media and the interim foreign office. India has been exposed before the world now. How long will the international community, especially the West, continue to ignore such incidents and actions of India? It is time for the international community to accept that India has become a rogue, Hindutva terrorist state. It has conducted terrorism in Kashmir. Not only have we in Pakistan caught their spies involved in terrorism in our country, but they have now been caught violating the sovereignty of a NATO member state. This is not only a violation of Canadian sovereignty, but international law and norms. The Pakistan Peoples Party calls and the government of Pakistan should call to stand with the people of Canada and highlight the atrocities of the religo-fascist state.
Answering a question, Chairman Bilawal said that the common man is concerned only with the historic price-hike in Pakistan. They have to choose between sending their kids to school, acquiring healthcare for their elders or paying power bills. They need hope and to know that their vote will truly be counted and that their true representatives would be negotiating with the IMF as an effort to provide them relief. When it comes to the question of the PPP being able to achieve this feat, the Party’s history has proved that it is able to do it as it helped the country not only stay afloat but prosper during the 2008 global recession. We gave the BISP to the people to empower the women of the country, increased salaries and pensions, as well as transforming the country into one exporting its produce rather than importing it. It was a longstanding demand of the PPP that Nawaz Sharif returns to the country and if a date has been announced, we welcome it. As far as the cases are concerned, we are ready to face ours and we are sure they are too.
Responding to a question, Chairman PPP said that the sacrifices and services of the Mother of Democracy, Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto are recognized all over the world. It is through their struggle that we were able to witness that women empowerment in the country has grown to the extent that a judge took his oath with his wife by his side.
