DNA
Mardan/Islamabad, 17 Nov: Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressing a workers’ convention in Mardan said that he is grateful to the hosts, divisional and provincial organisations of the Party, as well as the office-bearers and workers for making this convention a success. Chairman Bilawal said that it is his promise to return to the Mardan division to hold public gatherings as per the demand of the Jiyalas once the election schedule is announced.
Chairman Bilawal said that we have to remind the people of Pakistan, especially those of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that the PPP has always served the people of the country, especially the downtrodden masses. The PPP has served the people and represented them in every era. The people supported Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and in return, he gave them their voice through the right to vote. He not raised the slogan of ‘Roti, Kapra Aur Makaan’, but implemented it during his tenure. He gave the common man ownership of his land. He struggled for the sake of the people and accepted martyrdom after which Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto held the torch of the Party and strived for the rights of the people for three decades while combatting two dictators. It is with the help of the people that one unarmed woman faced General Zia and General Musharraf but never backed down.
President Zardari restored democracy in the country and chased Musharraf out, all while giving identity to the people and restoring the Constitution of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The people were given ownership of their resources through the NFC award. It is during his time that we initiated the revolutionary, internationally-acclaimed Benazir Income Support Programme to combat poverty and empower the poorest of women financially. We have to expand the same programme to maximise the benefits given to the people. The people are aware of the financial quagmire that the country is in, leading to historic price-hike, poverty and unemployment. There is only one solution for all of this, and that is to make the PPP victorious in the upcoming elections so that the ‘rule of the people’ can be established, a government of the farmers, labourers and youngsters can be established. We will help the country emerge from this crisis.
The onus is on my brothers to let everyone know that the real adversary of the country is the traditional politics that has been going on for seven decades, Chairman Bilawal said. Our politicians are stuck in the past and neither think of the present nor of the future. Chairman Bilawal said that the PPP is not stuck in the past, rather looks towards the present and the future. There are certain fundamentals that are imperative for a political party. These include the manifesto, ideology and discipline. It is apparent to everyone that PPP will be triumphant in the upcoming elections. The PPP’s only competition is the PPP itself. We need to forget our conflicts for the next few months, and unite under the flag of the PPP and move ahead, and no other political party can compete with the Jiyalas of the PPP.
The PPP aims to put an end to the politics of hatred and division. It wishes to establish new traditions that allow for the country to progress and prosper. Chairman Bilawal said that as long as the people are with him, no power in the world can hinder the journey of the PPP. Our fight is not with any other political party, but poverty, price-hike and unemployment. The PPP will derive solutions for these with the people by its side. The next government will be of the PSF, PYO and the Jiyalas.
It is not in the PPP’s principles to look left and right, it only looks at the people for guidance. It is the sole prerogative of the people of the country to decide who should serve and represent them. The Party is ready to accept the decision of the people. We are going to complete the incomplete mission of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, he resolved. The PPP is a party of the people, and today too, advises all political parties to trust the people and their politics and manifesto. They should not look left and right, but ahead.
The people of Pakistan will bear the burden again if a selection takes place. They have suffered through a selected regime in the past and are not willing to do so again, Chairman Bilawal said. The right to vote has been gifted to the people by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and it needs to be used in a manner that ensures that the future of the coming generations is bright and the country can thrive on an international level as a modern country. Those who are still engaging in the ways of the past are looking for ‘electables’. There was a time when this manner of doing politics would work, electables today too hold importance but those who join the Pakistan Mehengai League would no longer remain ‘electable’. This is not to evoke offence, but to apprise others of the ground realities.
We have been told that the slogan of ‘Roti, Kapra Aur Makaan’ is now one of the past. However, our slogan would remain the same as long as poverty and unemployment are prevalent in the country. We will not rest till every citizen sleeps with a full stomach, is clothed and has a roof sheltering them. Our manifesto would be successful and the arrow would be victorious. The PM and CMs will all be Jiyalas. We will meet next in Peshawar and then go to Dir and Chitral, Chairman said while addressing the Jiyalas. We need to work hard together and strive for a better Pakistan, Chairman PPP said.
