Daily Times

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Saturday called upon all government allies to ‘quickly announce their separation from the coalition if they wish to avoid committing treason’ against the country.

“Akhtar Mengal has played a positive role. Now there is no valid reason for him to stay with this government,” he said, adding, “I hope he will stick to his decision.” He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s opposition to the 18th Amendment and the National Finance Commission award to the provinces is now ‘plain for all to see’. “He is even against the 1973 Constitution,” he claimed, censuring the prime minister for speaking against the 18th Amendment and the NFC Award while on a visit to Sindh.

Bilawal said it is highly regrettable that the prime minister likened Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to a ‘dictator’. “I have been saying since the beginning, their true face has started to reveal itself,” he said. “For humanity’s sake, the premier should not have attacked the province at a time when it is important for all stakeholders to unite in fight against coronavirus pandemic,” he said.

Bilawal said the government will be hard pressed to find even one hospital at par with the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD). He said if the government is able to point out even one that comes up to its standards, the province will surrender control of all three hospitals sought by the federal government – the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and the National Institute of Child Health (NICH).

The PPP chairman said that the province has witnessed a great economic fallout as a result of the pandemic and the upcoming budget has done great injustice with the amount allocated for hospitals. He claimed that the government has announced a Rs70 billion budget but under the fine print, one will find that the amount is kept aside for a ‘slush fund’ to be used by PTI MNAs. “The government has cut down the budgets of the provinces and expects us to fight the outbreak on our own,” he said.

Bilawal said Sindh, meanwhile, has placed great emphasis on health. “We have ramped up the number of our hospitals and testing facilities on a war footing,” he said, adding that the government should take into account the recommendation by the WHO which calls for intermittent two-week lockdowns. “This fast crumbling wall will soon topple over. We need a serious prime minister,” the PPP chairman said.

Bilawal said the federal government should have announced a health or Covid-19 package for every province in the budget. He said the country has to increase its healthcare and testing capacity. “This support, however, was not provided to us,” he remarked, adding that the PTI should have allocated funds to transfer cash to people belonging to the working class and lower-middle class.

“Pakistan is facing the worst form of locust invasion in 25 years. We have known about it for a year now,” he said. “We appeal to them to take it seriously and help our farmers. This is a difficult situation,” he added.