MQM-P blasts Bilawal's 'irrational rhetoric'

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has sharply criticised a recent speech by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, describing his speech as “irrational rhetoric” and saying his remarks showed that MQM-P continued to occupy the thinking of the ruling party.

In a statement issued by its spokesperson, MQM-P said Bilawal's speech reflected what it described as irrational rhetoric and argued that the PPP, despite governing Sindh for the past 18 years, was trying to gain political mileage by inaugurating only one road project. The party said the project had been financed through international institutions and public-private partnership programmes, and claimed the move exposed what it called the PPP's political bankruptcy.

The spokesperson also accused the provincial rulers of exploiting the people of Sindh and said they could no longer conceal their performance behind what the party termed symbolic development schemes. MQM-P maintained that repeated references to the Bhutto legacy had not translated into relief for the people of urban Sindh, who, it said, continued to face serious hardships.

Criticism over civic conditions

According to the MQM-P statement, Karachi and other parts of Sindh remain without essential civic services. The party listed electricity, clean drinking water, sewerage infrastructure, gas supply and respectable public transport among the basic facilities it said were still lacking.

The spokesperson said the government was prioritising inauguration ceremonies and false claims instead of addressing public complaints. MQM-P particularly referred to the condition of Karachi's University Road, saying the city's main thoroughfare had remained in a damaged state for nearly five years and asserting that Bilawal Bhutto could not avoid responsibility for the delay and neglect.

Allegations against PPP governance

MQM-P further alleged that the PPP's long rule in Sindh had left the province grappling with corruption, growing unemployment and widespread deprivation. The party claimed that frustration with the government's conduct was present in both urban and rural areas of Sindh, and said the province had been pushed further towards backwardness under PPP-led administrations.

The statement added that the public was no longer prepared to accept political slogans and now wanted accountability for every rupee spent from the provincial budget.

The criticism came in response to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's recent speech, though the MQM-P statement focused primarily on the PPP's governance record in Sindh and the state of public services in Karachi and elsewhere in the province.