LAHORE: In what appears to be an effort to enhance its rapport with business people, traditionally considered a PML-N constituency, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari met representatives of traders on Wednesday.

This is the second significant event following PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s interaction with business leaders at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry.

According to a press release issued after the meeting, the business leaders expressed concerns about the deteriorating economic conditions in the country and the recently announced budget for the fiscal year 2023-24.

Pakistan Business Forum leader Momin Ali Malik quoted the PPP chairperson as assuring the gathering that debt restructuring was feasible if all stakeholders collaborated and developed a joint strategy for the purpose.

The foreign minister, however, acknowledged that the task is easier said than done.

Mr Malik and former president of the Islamabad Chamber Zafar Bakhtawari urged the rectification of the misconception that the PPP is anti-business. They recalled that during the party’s tenure in power, even the prime minister could be approached on short notice, unlike the governments of other parties where meeting the finance minister was a daunting task.

Mr Bilawal admitted that the party is suffering from the negative effects of the misconception among the business community, possibly due to its nationalization policy in the 1970s.

Shahzad Ali Malik, chairman of the United Business Group and former president of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated that his group would prepare a working paper to address this misconception and submit it to the PPP chairman.

He highlighted that in the recently announced budget, people were misled by the finance minister’s claim of reduced duties on seeds and combined harvesters, as there were no duties on these items even before the budget.

Others who met the PPP chairman included caretaker Punjab industries minister SM Tanveer, LCCI President Kashif Anwar, former chiefs of FPCCI Abdur Rauf Alam and Darood Khan, and leaders from the chambers of Sargodha, Sheikhupura and Rahim Yar Khan: Amir Ata Bajwa, Manzoor Malik, Mumtaz Sheikh and Rauf Mukhtar.

MPA: Punjab PPP leader Syed Hassan Murtaza has demanded that those who were involved in instigating the people in the May 9 attacks should be penalized, while those who were misled by these miscreants should be forgiven.

He was speaking at a press conference during which former PTI MPA Sania Kamran announced joining the PPP here on Wednesday.

Mr Murtaza emphasized that the real culprits in the May 9 incidents were those who were “cleansing their crime through holding press conferences (distancing themselves from the attacks).”

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2023