–PPP chief says it’s incumbent upon Opp to stop the budget from passing
–Says he and Maryam are there to play a ‘lengthy political innings’
LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday said that his party would start an anti-government drive from June 23, the birth anniversary of his mother and former premier Benazir Bhutto.
He said this while addressing a press conference after meeting senior party leader Aitzaz Ahsan in Lahore. He said that PPP would reach out to the allies of the government and they would go door-to-door to talk to the people.
Terming the recently-presented federal budget for the next fiscal year as an enemy of the people, the PPP chairman said that the incumbent government is taking dictations from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the governor of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and finance minister have been appointed on IMF’s behalf.
He said that the opposition gave the government a chance to present a people-friendly budget but they failed to do so. “We would have voted for such a budget but they presented an anti-people budget,” he added.
“The government did not leave a single chance to tax the poor and have given maximum relief to the rich in the ‘PTIMF’ budget,” he said, adding that the budget is “economic suicide” and it is incumbent on the opposition to stop the budget even if it means toppling the government.
He also said that he would talk to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman about the upcoming All Parties Conference (APC) of the opposition parties. He hoped that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz would join them “with her honesty”.
Talking about his meeting with Maryam at Jati Umra earlier in the day, the PPP chairman said that he and Maryam are going to play a lengthy political inning. “We belong to separate political parties and we will continue with our mudslinging and out politics,” he said, adding that they will try their best to avoid making disagreements person and only focus on differing viewpoints.