LARKANA: Criticising the economic policies of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government, Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday recalled that whenever the PPP came to power it created jobs across the country.

It had been a familiar slogan in the country for a long time ‘Benazir aegy rozgar laegy’, he said while addressing his party’s rallies in Nazar Mohalla and Pakistan Chowk areas of Larkana soon after arriving in the city where he will lead the election campaign of his party’s candidate, Jamil Soomro, in the by-polls in the Sindh Assembly constituency PS-11 which is scheduled to be held on Oct 17.

He said former prime ministers Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto during their tenures created job opportunities for Pakistanis not only inside the country but also in foreign countries. Even during the time when the world was experiencing a severe economic recession, the PPP government led by former president Asif Ali Zardari took many initiatives for welfare of people, including Benazir Income Support Programme, he added.

He said the PPP government negotiated over a financial assistance deal with the International Monetary Funds, but did not compromise on the interests of poor people. It gave 100 per cent raise to the salary of government employees and the pension at a time when the country was facing a very difficult financial situation, he added.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari said the PPP fought against military regimes of Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf, adding “it is the PPP which will send this puppet government packing”.

He said he had confidence that the people of the area would vote for the PPP’s candidate in the Oct 17 by-poll. Calling the candidate of the Grand Democratic Alliance, the main opponent of the PPP’s candidate in the by-poll, a representative of the “puppet government”, he said the people would reject opponents of the PPP.

The PPP chairman accused the PTI government and its coalition partners of hatching a conspiracy to separate Karachi from Sindh. He warned against initiating such a move, saying that the PPP could go to any extent for keeping the provincial geography and administrative status intact. They mistakenly understood that by pressurising the Sindh government and sending the PPP leadership behind bars they could succeed in achieving their goal, he said and raised the slogan, “marson, marson... Sindh na daison”.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari said he was fighting in the National Assembly for rights of people. He criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan and blamed him for compromising on rights of people.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2019