LAHORE: Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has again criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government as ‘inefficient’ and ‘incompetent’ which is unable to run the country or manage its economy.

“The incumbent rulers are inefficient and good for nothing as they can neither run the country nor its economy as a result of which [economic] conditions [of the country] are going from bad to worse,” he told party activists at the residence of Lahore chapter President Azizur Rehman Chan here on Sunday.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari said the ‘incompetent’ government had increased economic burden of the poor by doing nothing to control inflation. He said the oppressed working class was being further tormented by the government by creating economic hurdles in their way.

He regretted that the PTI government was unprepared to hold parleys with the IMF and thus sacrificed economic rights of the people at the altar of the world lending agency.

“The PTI deal with the IMF is against the people of Pakistan,” he said.

He said the PPP always follows an economic policy different from what has been adopted by the PTI or PML-N, the two major rival parties.

Explaining the difference, he said the PML-N and other parties had been announcing tax amnesty schemes and bailout packages for the rich only, while the PPP gave ‘revolutionary’ schemes like the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and increased salaries and pensions of government employees because the money spent on the poor goes into circulation in the economy and those given to the rich is deposited with bank accounts.

He said the N League also did nothing for the poor as building bridges and metro bus routes isn’t the name of development. “When money is not spent on the ordinary citizens then it isn’t called development. It’s bogus development.”

Mr Bhutto-Zardari said if the people wanted prosperity for every labourer, grower, student, woman, and poor, they would have to become a voice of the PPP as the party has always worked for the common people.

He urged the people to support him like they had supported his grandfather Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his mother Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2020