LAHORE: Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday announced that he will lead a long march against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s government from Karachi to Islamabad from February 27.
Speaking at a press conference, Bilawal demanded that fresh and elections are the only solution to resolve the current crisis nation is facing. “We will put forward our demands when we reach Islamabad,” he said.
The PPP leader said that there is a conspiracy being hatched to reverse the erstwhile tribal areas with the Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa, adding that the people of Pakistan doesn’t have food on table neither gas. “The promises made to the people of FATA have not been fulfilled,” he said. “The people of Pakistan are done with PTI government.”
“An anti-government move will be initiated from Lahore. Pakistan Peoples Party express their concern over the secret negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan,” he said. “The PTI government has sold off Pakistan’s sovereignty. The PTI has not taken parliament into confidence on any issue.”
The national economy has been destroyed under the PTI government. Punjab should have same local bodies act as present in Sindh, he said, adding that the PPP has made an election committee. “PPP will oppose the mini budget in parliament. We will launch protest outside parliament,” he said.
The PPP co-chairman demanded Supreme Court to set aside its stay order for minimum wage bill of Rs25,000.
80 Punjab representatives join PPP
As many as 80 representatives from nine districts of the Punjab province have joined the Pakistan Peoples Party.
These representatives are from the nine districts of Punjab including Kasur, Okara, Vehari, Sahiwal, Multan, Jhang, Layyah and Lodhran. The representatives who joined the PPP are the former Chairmen of Municipal Committees and Union Councils, former General Councillors, members of Kissan Ittehad and important personalities of the business community.
Addressing them, Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the PPP has always been a party of grass roots; it is still a party of grass roots and will always remain a party of grass roots.
He said that the PPP has always stabilised the country in difficult times. Pakistan is passing through tough times now. The current government is anti-people. The PPP has always looked after the downtrodden masses. It has always provided jobs to the people and the slogan was “Benazir Aaye gi, Rozgar Laye gi”. In the 1970s, during the government of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto we introduced 5 marla schemes and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto in the 1990s introduced 7 marla schemes. Now, this selected government that had promised 5 million houses has snatched shelter from the poor of this country. This government of the selected had promised 10 million jobs but thousands were rendered unemployed. People want to get rid of this government. I need your help to put this country on the right track
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Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the PPP always empowered the people of Pakistan. President Zardari, who was the most powerful civil president of this country, transferred all his powers to the representatives of the people of Pakistan, the Parliament. We always desired to empower the provinces and the local governments. This is why in Sindh, the PPP has introduced a local government system through the Sindh Assembly which empowers the local governments. Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah is making local governments powerful by enabling them to generate their own revenue. The mayor has been made the Chairman of the Water Board. The waste management is co-chaired by the mayor. Local governments have been empowered to receive reports from the police, education and health departments biweekly. We want to strengthen the local governments. The local government systems in the federal capital Islamabad and Punjab have been imposed by ordinances.
Chairman Bilawal welcomed all new entrants to the party and said that the PPP is not only a political party, but a family where we are together in joy and grief, in successes and defeats.
The former LG representatives who joined the PPP are as follows: Former chairman of Kasur Union Council Ranjha Baloch, Chaudhry Abdul Jabbar, Chaudhry Muhammad Jamil, Haji Abdul Sattar, Chaudhry Liaquat Ali Sanda, former chairman of Kasur Union Council Chaudhry Mushtaq Ahmed, Aslam Mayo, Najibullah Khan, Shabir Ahmed Bhatti, Dr. Ashraf Chauhan, General councillor of Kasur, Rana Muhammad Ali, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Arshad Bhatti, Sarfraz Ahmed, Fawad Rashid, Hafiz M. Arshad Malik, General Councillor of Kasur, Ahmad Ali Olakh, Muhammad Jahangir, Chaudhry Shahadat Ali Jutt, Sardar Rafiq Dogar, Zulfiqar Ali Dogar, General Councillor of Kasur, Imtiaz Ahmed Bhatti, Zulfiqar Masih, Malik Afzal Ahmed, Shabnam Khan, former member of Kasur District Council, Zeb-un- Nisa, former member of Kasur Union Council Samir Rafique, Nargis Riaz Kharal, former Vice Chairman of Kasur Union Council Rana Muhammad Younis, former Vice Chairman of Kasur Fateh Muhammad Nambardar, community leaders Manzoor Ahmad Khokhar, Aziz Khalid, Sharafat Ali, businessman Shahid Anjum and former chairman of Kasur Municipal Committee Sardar Faisal Ata Dogar and former general councillor of Okara Mian Idrees Bhatti, Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed Gul, President Kisan Ittehad Punjab, Malik Jahanzeb Kallas, President Lahore Division, Sardar Saeed Ahmed Dogar, influential personalities Sardar Dawood Ahmed, Malik Fahad Hussain Awan, Lahore Bar Council member Rana Intezar Ahmed, former Chairman Vehari Union Council Shabbir Hussain, Malik Nasir Mahmood Awan, Naeem Ijaz, former Vice Chairman of Vehari Union Council Ishaq Mohammad, Zahid Mahmood, General Councillors of Vehari Faisal Hameed, Mohammad Afzal, Abdul Rashid, Mohammad Yousuf, Nasreen Bibi, Zahid Pervez, former Union Council Nazim Rana Muhammad Iqbal, Rana Sharafat Ali Khan, Naveed Akhtar, runner up Chaudhry Shehzad Pervez, Rao Muhammad Javed, Malik Muhammad Ashfaq, former Deputy Nazim of Kasur Mehr Muhammad Sarwar, former member of Sahiwal Municipal Corporation Farzana Abbas, former member of Multan Municipal Corporation Hina Shahid, former member of Jhang Municipal Corporation Zarina Sheikh, former general councillor of Jhang Iram Ijaz, Shagufta Hussain, former member of Layyah District Council, Iqbal Bibi, Shabana Amir, former member of Okara District Council, former Lodhran Tehsil Nazim and former UC Chairman Syed Asghar Shah.
