ISLAMABAD, Nov 20: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairperson Benazir Bhutto said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, in his maiden speech, only tried to paint a rosy picture of the future without knowing the bitter ground realities.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, Ms Bhutto said Mr Aziz appeared not to be fully aware of the reasons and factors that led to the growth of Malaysia and Singapore.

She said: "The regime should give specific details to the people of what can be delivered in the next six and 12 months or resign from the office."

She said the decision to build a second GHQ in Islamabad at a cost of billions of rupees, when one was already available in nearby Rawalpindi, was a sheer waste of national resources.

"It was such waste on grandiose projects that would compound Pakistan's economic problems despite massive international assistance," she added.

The PPP leader said people wanted jobs, clean drinking water, affordable health facilities and development project in their own towns and villages.

Our Reporter Adds: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Acting President Javed Hashmi has said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's address to the nation was full of misstatements and vague promises and merely reflected the anti-people agenda of Gen Pervez Musharraf.

The PML-N leader, in a statement issued here on Saturday, said the address was as insignificant as those previously delivered by Mohammad Khan Junejo and Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali.

He said the reality of Mr Aziz's economic promises was exposed in his claim of having broken the begging bowl, because the present government had replaced borrowing from the IMF with huge loans obtained from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, resulting in greater debt burden for the country.

Mr Hashmi asked the prime minister to inform the nation of details of the WB and the ADB loans contracted by the government during the last five years.

He said not only the people of Pakistan but the world community also were aware of the lie that Pakistani media enjoyed freedom.

The PML-N leader said the government which had restrained the journalists from observing the military action in South Waziristan had no right to claim ensuring press freedom.

Mr Hashmi said the prime minister's address on Friday was a belated effort to cover up his failure in addressing the nation right after he was sworn in.

Meanwhile, PML-N leader Mohammad Mehdi has said there has been an increase of 8.5 million people in the population of those living below the poverty line due to poor economic policies of the present regime.

Commenting on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's address to the nation, the PML-N leader claimed that there had been an increase of 1.36 million unemployed people in the country only in 2004.

Mr Mehdi said the military regime had totally failed to provide any relief to the common man.

He alleged that the government was acquiring loans through Euro Bonds at a rate of seven per cent, while earlier it was getting loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the rate of only 0.5 per cent.

He said there was no substance in the speech of the prime minister adding that Mr Aziz had read out the speech like a lesson.

PML: Pakistan Muslim League has welcomed the speech of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, terming it a ray of hope for the general masses regarding ensuring further political and economic stability in the country.

The PML spokesman, in a statement, said the policies and steps the prime minister had announced reflected his new vision which would usher in a new era of development.

The way he (Mr Aziz) mentioned the national issues and suggested their solutions shows his farsightedness, political vision, sagacity and love for people and Pakistan, he added.

LABOUR MINISTER: Federal Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Ghulam Sarwar Khan on Saturday appreciated the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for inviting the opposition for a dialogue in order to develop consensus on national issues.