–PPP leader says Pakistanis have grown tired of PTI govt
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday said he believes 2020 is the year of “tabdeeli” (change), as he reaffirmed his party’s faith in politics and democracy.
“The way the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has forcefully thrust this International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal on us, with the way taxes are being raised, the way life is being taken out of our economy, because of that we believe the people of this country cannot tolerate this government for very long.
“I believe the most important thing is that people are on the same page and right now the Pakistani public is very tired [of this government],” he said while talking to a private news channel.
Bilawal said opposition parties and the people of Pakistan had several options, of which the most talked about is “in-house change [and] secondly new elections”.
When asked whether he thought any deal was being made in London after news of several prominent personalities’ visits to the city emerged, the PPP co-chairman said: “I do not know anything, I believe these are conspiratorial talks. Decision makers should only be the people of Pakistan.”
Referring to his party’s decision to launch a protest march next month against the PTI-led government, Bilawal said his target was “taking the condition of the economy and our party’s stance to the public”.
“Our struggle against this inflation and the IMF budget will acquire a new angle during the march,” he added.
“As soon as I said this, Imran Khan’s NAB sent us a notice, tried to put us under pressure, tried to threaten us but we are not ready to back down,” Bilawal said.
He criticised the PTI-led government’s IMF deal, saying the government was “incapable” of negotiating the deal.
Bilawal said his party had rejected the “PTI-IMF deal for the way it compromised on the rights of the people of Pakistan […] attacked the economic sovereignty of the country”.
He called for the government to leave the deal and renegotiate it afresh and to bring forward a “people-friendly plan according to Pakistan’s economic sovereignty”.
Bilawal denied he had knowledge of any pact made between the government and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman last year.
