January 25, 2008	Friday	Muharram 15, 1429

LARKANA, Jan 24: Promises made by Benazir Bhutto to workers will be honoured, affirmed Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Zardari.

Zardari was talking to a delegation of Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF) on Thursday who had come to Naudero for condolence. He said all anti-labour laws would be repealed if PPP returned to power.

He said the government’s defective and flawed economic policies had squeezed the poor between price hike and unemployment.

He criticized the government for ill-planned power policy adding the government failed to add even a single megawatt in 15-year old energy policy of Ms Benazir Bhutto. He said had Ms Benazir Bhutto not given power policies, the entire country today would have been plunged into darkness.

He said PPP will continue with policies of Z.A. Bhutto and Ms Benazir Bhutto and asked workers to extend their support.

Leaders of PWF said death of Ms Benazir Bhutto was a loss to entire nation and workers. They said Z.A. Bhutto and Ms Benazir Bhutto had struggled for the rights of workers.

Asif Zaradri later left for Karachi from Sukkur for two days, sources said. labour leaders: Leaders of Pakistan Wapda Hydroelectric Central Labour Union consider Benazir Bhutto to be a victim of international conspiracy.

President Abdul Lateef Nizamani, Central President Khursheed Ahmed Khan, and Vice President Ramzan Achakzai addressed workers at the Nizamani Labour Hall here after meeting Asif Zardari in Naudero.

They said the country was facing conspiracy threats. The democracy-loving trade unionists will foil these conspiracies and safeguard the country by unmasking the conspirators they said and urged the workers to play their role in saving the country and the organization.

They regretted the country’s institutions were moving towards devastation that had severely affected the poor and lower class. The rising graph of poverty, unemployment had drastically affected the workers class they said and added the country was passing through critical phase.

They said workers of Wapda in Balochistan were worst affected as they were working in adverse conditions and were not being properly looked after.

They alleged that instead of solving problems Wapda was multiplying these and warned the authority to refrain or they would resort to extreme step of switching off power supply in the country.

Iqbal Qaimkhani, Azam Jarwar, Nisar Shaikh, Khalid Chandio and others also addressed the gathering.