Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto has said that the time has come to let the people decide the future of Pakistan, the people will have to be made partners in political, economic and social matters, adding: “I know how elections are conducted, but I also know that when the people of Pakistan wake up, no one can stop them.”

According to the press release issued by Media Cell Bilawal House, the PPP Chairman, while addressing the Balochistan High Court Bar Association, said that he feels the pain and suffering of the people of Balochistan. He said that my maternal grandfather Shaheed Zulfiqkar Ali Bhutto, who was the first elected Prime Minister of the country and also served as the President of the country, was hanged. “My mother, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, was the first woman Prime Minister of Pakistan as well as the first ever elected Prime Minister of Muslim Ummah, was martyred. My young maternal uncle Shaheed Shahnawaz Bhutto was poisoned. My (other) maternal uncle Mir Murtaza Bhutto was martyred outside his house and it was blamed on Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and her family under the conspircay, “target a Bhutto to chase other Bhutto, to topple Shaheed Bibi’s elected government,” he added. 

“Today, when I see a mother in Balochistan sad because of her son’s target killing or disappearance, I understand her pain,” said Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and questioned that whether it is written in our destiny that the blood of the people of Pakistan, especially the people of Balochistan, is cheap. Has the system for 70 years brought justice to the citizens living in this country?  

Chairman PPP said that general elections are going to be held on February 8 next year, and added: “We are being told that the one who became the prime minister for three times, now he will become the prime minister for the fourth time and after that he will get the country out of trouble. (And) the other person is the one who was the prime minister a few years ago, who had said that the protesting Hazara community in Balochistan were blackmailers, and who, being prime minister, considered the issue of missing persons unimportant, and liked to call himself a youth leader despite being 70 years old.” He questioned whether these people are the options of the people of Pakistan, Balochistan and the country?

Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari urged that those politicians who made our blood cheap should not be given another chance, adding that let the people decide the future of Pakistan. “I also know that when the people and the youth take a decision, no power in the world can reverse it. I request you to surprise them all on February 8, use your voting power, come out in large numbers,  and don’t leave the fate of the country to 2 people,” he added.

“My objection is not at all that they have become elders,” said Chairman PPP, adding that age does not matter, you can adopt a new style of politics for this country even when you are old, and you can be interested in the same old style of politics even when you are young. He emphasized that we have to leave the traditional and old political thinking. “We will bury the politics of hate, ego and division and move forward. Inshallah, PPP will be in the government. We will first give the people of Balochistan their right,” he continued. He said that when President Asif Ali Zardari took measures like the launch of Aghaz-e-Huqooq-Balochistan, the Eighteenth Amendment and NFC during his tenure, these were tantamount to the victory of Balochistan.

Chairman PPP said that his party’s previous governments in Sindh have ensured the development and welfare of the local population as well as the protection of their rights by making them shareholders in the resources of Thar. He said that in the past Tharparkar was presented as Africa, but now women of Thar are also working as engineers and truck drivers on the Thar Coal project. “Through the Thar Coal project, we are delivering the cheapest electricity to the National Grid, electricity is going to Faisalabad. We have done development in Sindh through Public Private Partnership,” he pointed out.

Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari asked whether the citizens of Balochistan consider themselves to be part of CPEC or not. “I think the people of Balochistan are being abused. CPEC was founded by President Asif Ali Zardari, but the project was not carried forward according to his vision. Balochistan has minerals and resources. As much as Balochistan has, not so many resources in the whole of Pakistan.”

PPP Chairman said that his party has always trusted people of the country. Addressing the public, he said: “You and I will make a new history together, we can change the fate of this country. I have been the youngest foreign minister of the country, I know that this country There is so much potential in the people, and I know how we can present the country as a modern state in the world.”

Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that his party will give a surprise on February 8 general elections, as the incoming Prime Minister as well as Chief Ministers of provinces will be Jiyalas of his party. 

He announced that the PPP government formed as a result of the success in the upcoming general elections, to solve the problems faced by the unemployed youth and provide financial support to the working classes will introduce, on the pattern of Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), the Youth Card, Kissan Card and the Mazdoor Card.

“Youths should comeforward and bury the politics of division, hate, and revenge in the country as Pakistan needs a new way of approach and politics,” he urged.

Addressing a mammoth public gathering held on the occasion of the party’s 56th foundation day in Quetta, the PPP Chairman said that Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto introduced a new style of politics in the country, as he took politics out of the drawing room and brought it to the masses. “Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto also adopted a new style of politics by burying the politics of hatred, division and revenge, and continued to do politics under the slogan “Democracy is our revenge,” he said, adding that she used to say that she has to serve her poor people of the country. “Shaheed Bibi also set an example and showed how the country is run by uniting the entire nation,” he recalled. 

Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that President Asif Ali Zardari also created a new history by burying the politics of hatred, ego, division and revenge after assuming the office of the presidency, adding that President Zardari did not take revenge on any of them, who attempted to cut out his tongues (during imprisonment) or kept him imprisoned for 12 years. “President Zardari has shown restraint on his media trial. Sometimes in Memogate someone would go to court wearing a black coat and someone would appear as the (so-called) representative of the youth, but he (didn’t mess with them, instead) united the whole country with him and served the people,” he added. He furthered that earlier the country had to import wheat, rice and sugar, but within a year of President Zardari becoming the head of the state, Pakistan became one of the countries that exported these commodities.

Chairman Pakistan People’s Party said that the solution to all the problems faced by the country is in the ideology of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and manifesto of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, adding that other parties protect the interests of the elite, while PPP always takes care of the poor people of the country. He said that the PPP government formed after winning the general elections on February 8 will further increase the BISP, adding: “we will also issue youth cards for the youth. I am young myself, so I can understand their problems and thinking. 70pc of Pakistan’s population consists of youth, no “Khilarri” (player) represents them, I will.” He said that youth centers will be established in every district, where all necessary facilities for training and employment of youth will be provided.

Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that PPP is following the style of politics that it does not consider any party or politician as its rival, but considers inflation, unemployment and poverty as its enemy. “We will put the country on the lines where everyone can progress,” he added. He said that the PPP government coming after the election will also introduce Kissan Card and Mazdoor Card for the financial support of the working classes. “Instead of giving subsidies to the industrialists, the money will be directly deposited in the pockets of the workers through the said cards,” he said.

Citing the performance of the previous PPP government in Sindh, Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that there has been significant improvement in the health sector in Sindh within a short period of time. “In the form of NICVD, Sindh now has the world’s largest cardiovascular care network. The hospital located in Tehsil Gambat of Sindh cannot be compared with any hospital in Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he pointed out.

Chairman PPP said that he is not a seasonal democrat, adding: “whether in government or in opposition, we protects the Constitution as it includes the blood and sweat of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and their workers.” He said that sometimes the people of PML-N and sometimes PTI raise slogans that they would abolish the 18th amendment, adding that those who talk about abolishing the Eighteenth Amendment actually want to say that they want to rob the resources of Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab and hand over these resources to the bureaucrats of Islamabad. “We will not allow this plot to succeed,” he warned.

Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that PML-N failed to manage the economy despite having the treasury portfolio during the previous coalition government. “PML-N has now become “Menhgai League” for the people. They have failed, (and) people know that they are political showmen,” he added.

He said that Balochistan is a province of brave and zealous people, and he himself will represent this province along with President Asif Ali Zardari, adding that President Zardari made Balochistan the owner of its resources. “President Asif Ali Zardari restored the 1973 constitution to its original form through the 18th amendment; gave projects like NFC, Aghaz Haqook Balochistan Initiative and Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline. I promise that if the next government is of PPP; I will complete the Pak-Iran pipeline project,” he added. He also urged the public that if the country’s poor are to be benefited, then the PPP has to be supported to win the upcoming polls.