Daily Times

In an apparent blow to the opposition parties’ effort to increase pressure on the incumbent PTI government, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto has decided not to be a part of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) protest in front of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) scheduled for next week.

According to a private TV channel report, a delegation of PPP will attend the protest outside the ECP’s office in Islamabad, and Bilawal will visit Umer Kot on the day of the protest and will then attend the PDM’s rally planned for Sargodha on January 23.

Talking to reporters on Saturday, the PPP chairman said he hopes after the protest outside ECP office, “we won’t be disappointed like in the past”. He said the PPP, as well as he, in a personal capacity will fully participate in highlighting the issue through press conferences and other means. “There are very serious allegations that the PTI is a foreign-funded party. Their own member has raised allegations. But unfortunately, whether it is the court or the election commission, the truth has not been forth before the people,” he said. “This is why the Pakistan Democratic Movement will protest on January 19 outside the Election Commission of Pakistan and will demand that the case be taken to its conclusion and all the facts of the case be made public,” he added.

Bilawal said the people must be told which people from which countries ‘gave so much money to PTI’. “If a citizen from India or from Israel funds a Pakistan party there must be a reason behind it,” he maintained.

Bilawal said it must be probed “why this money was given to PTI and since PTI came into power did they facilitate these people in any way or not”. He said he believes “if such a senior member has provided proof of such a serious allegation”, the truth of these allegations should have been put before the public by now.

Responding to a reporter’s query regarding PPP “using back-door channels to hold talks with the government”, he denied and condemned such reports, saying, “You yourself accept that these are negative reports. Had there been any truth you would have known about it. There is no such thing.”

Bilawal said that whether its Pakistan’s economy or its health sector, “the current government has failed and this is why the people are suffering”. “This is why we demand that they step down,” he said, adding that the controversies and cases the PTI is embroiled “are there for everyone to see”. “Transparency International says Pakistan’s most corrupt government is the PTI government,” he said, adding that during their time, the Billion Tree Tsunami scandal, the BRT project scandal and the foreign funding case all surfaced.

Bilawal also criticised the delay in the procurement of a vaccine by the government, saying that all the gains made during the fight against coronavirus in the earlier months of the outbreak will be lost at this rate. “The only solution to come out of this difficult situation is the vaccine,” he stressed. “Where due to your sacrifices and lockdown Pakistan was ahead, it will now fall behind,” the PPP chairman said.

He said Pakistan has made no arrangements for import of the vaccine, whereas India, Bangladesh and Western countries are moving very quickly to secure the vaccine. “Sindh government was expecting to roll out the vaccine in January. We were told to be prepared by January so the vaccination can begin,” Bilawal said.

He said the Sindh government had prepared and readied “all mechanisms”, especially to ensure vaccination for frontline workers who are “most vulnerable and the most important” but the vaccine “never came”. “It seems we will have to wait for a long time.”

Bilawal said this “unfair” approach by the government will lead to the private sector being given a preference. “The private sector will have full freedom. The private sector will be the first to arrange a vaccine and whoever has money will get vaccinated,” he said.