Consensus being developed for an impartial caretaker govt: Bilawal

—Says PPP in favour of new province in south Punjab

—Says his party believes CJP Saqib Nisar will provide justice to everyone

—Says his party will block all attempts to auction PIA

MULTAN: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Sunday that consensus was being developed for installing an impartial caretaker government to conduct free and fair elections in Pakistan.

Addressing a press conference here at Gilani House after offering condolences to the family of late Makhdoom Syed Wajahat Hussain Gilani, Bilawal recalled that PPP had set up a caretaker government during its last tenure after reaching a consensus with the opposition parties.

He said that democracy was flourishing in the country and improving every day since the last 10 years. He said that PPP had peacefully transferred powers from one civilian government to another.

He added that his party was always in favour of another province in south Punjab and had passed a bill in this regard in the Senate during its last tenure. He said that establishment of

a new province in south Punjab was the need of the hour to end the sense of deprivation among the people of the area.

The PPP chairman further said that providing all kinds of facilities to the public had always been a top priority of his party, adding that the party had initiated important projects during its tenure.

He said that the PPP government had initiated Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to benefit the poor families of Pakistan. He also said that the party had facilitated 600,000 families in Sindh by offering interest-free loans to poor women under the poverty alleviation programme.

Moreover, he said that different energy generation projects had also been started by the PPP government in Sindh, where 10 to 12 hours of load-shedding was witnessed on a daily basis. He said that the people of Karachi were facing load-shedding because Karachi Electric Supply Company Limited (KESC) had been privatised before the PPP came to power in Sindh.

Replying to a query, Bilawal said that his party believed that Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar would provide justice to everyone. On the occasion, PPP central leader Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood, Abdul Qadir Gilani, Ali Haider Gilani and other party leaders were also present.

Meanwhile, talking to a delegation of Pakistan International Airline (PIA) Peoples Unity in Islamabad on Sunday evening, Bilawal said that PIA was a national asset and PIA employees and PPP would not allow this asset to be auctioned.

The delegation was led by Hidayatullah Khan, Ramzan Laghari and Sohail Mukhtar, who called on the PPP chairman at Zardari House Islamabad. Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, Farhatullah Babar and Senator Nawaz Khokhar were also present on the occasion.

Bilawal said that PIA employees have put their trust in the Peoples Unity which proved that PPP was the party of the masses.

Speaking on the occasion, the labour leaders said that the die-hard activists of late Benazir Bhutto would always support the party and would continue to work towards the betterment of the masses.

The PPP chairman congratulated the office-bearers of PIA Peoples Unity and workers, saying that this success was an indication of the party’s success in the next general elections.