KARACHI:Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that Punjab cannot be left at the mercy of a puppet’s puppet adding that Hamza Shahbaz has the first right over the Punjab government, but if he is not made the Chief Minister then there is an option to talk to Chaudhry brothers.
Addressing a press conference at Media Cell Bilawal House, the PPP Chairman said that he wanted to save the PDM, while decisions regarding the PDM would be taken at a meeting of the party’s Central Executive Committee on April 5. He said that he would not respond to the allegations leveled by the PML-N as he respects Maryam Nawaz and other PML-N leaders.
He said that the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House was the right of the PPP, just like the first right in the Punjab Assembly belongs to the PML-N, Hamza Shahbaz. He further said that according to constitutional and democratic traditions, PPP is the second largest party in the upper house with 21 senators, so it is our democratic right to have this post, while the PML-N’s candidate for opposition leader in the Senate was controversial.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that on the issue of Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, our party leaders felt that the PPP was being pushed against the wall and it is unfortunate that one party showed stubbornness.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari termed the State Bank ordinance as unconstitutional and a serious attack on the economic sovereignty of the country demanding that the government should withdraw the ordinance immediately because the State Bank should be answerable to Pakistanis instead of IMF. He said that we will challenge this illegal ordinance in every forum, which will affect every Pakistani.
The PPP Chairman said that the economic agreements made by the present government with the IMF were not in the interest of the people and were done in a wrong way. The current government did not have the capacity to represent and negotiate with the IMF on the country’s economy. He further said that every Pakistani’s pocket has been robbed as the way in which the common man is fighting inflation and poverty today was worst economic situation in the history of Pakistan.
Talking about the removal of Special Assistant for Petroleum, the Chairman PPP said that there was a crisis of petrol in Pakistan when petrol is getting cheaper all over the world. The people who made this decision were not just a special assistant or an individual, but a collective decision of the cabinet, he added.
He said that the decision was taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan and yesterday he tried to save himself by making a special assistant a scapegoat. All those who took decision in the cabinet should also be removed and all should resign, he demanded.
The PPP Chairman said that the third wave of COVID-19 was going on in the country and corona was spreading rapidly in Punjab, due to which the anniversary of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto would be celebrated at district level with SOPs. Senators Sherry Rehman, Shazia Marri, Waqar Mehdi, Murtaza Wahab and Jamil Soomro were also present on the occasion.