Pakistanis will not accept ‘selected raj’: Bilawal

F.P. Report

MITHI: As general elections draw close, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari announced Monday the people will not accept “selected raj (selected government)” anymore — a term used for the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.

Addressing a public rally in Mithi, Bilawal said: “People bore selected raj for five years, but now any selected raj is unacceptable.” Without naming any party, the PPP chairman said that people would respond to those who were getting their election results made while sitting in the room.

It is pertinent to mention here that the PPP leadership has been accusing the Pakistan Mulsim League (PML-N) of having a “hidden alliance” with the caretaker government. Slamming the PTI, Bilawal said people would answer those who attacked the state installations on May 9 in the upcoming general elections — slated to be held on February 8, 2024.

“On the other hand, we have friends, if they think that they will contest elections by copying the PTI, they will fail.” He said: “People will defeat Mahengai-league on February 8.” The PPP leader further said that people will give a “surprise” in the next elections.

Addressing the rally, the PPP chairman hoped that “jialas (the term used for PPP workers)” would become prime minister and chief executive of Punjab this time. Bilawal vowed to complete the unfinished mission of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto — who was hanged to death on April 4, 1979, in a murder case but his party terms it a “judicial murder”.

Recalling his family’s services to the people, Bilawal said that they have been struggling to eliminate poverty for the past three generations. The PPP empowered the farmers, peasants, and the poor, he added. The PPP chairman vowed to double the salaries of the workers and introduce a “hari card” like the Benazir Income Support Programme card. Last week, PPP’s former allies in Centre — PML-N and MQM-P — announced that they would jointly go into the upcoming general elections, a move which could have impacts on the election results in urban areas of Sindh, the stronghold of the Bilawal-led party.

The development came as the scathing verbal showdown between the PPP and PML-N intensified since the Election Commission of Pakistan had announced to hold elections in the country in February next year. The romance between the two former allies ended after the PDM-led coalition government completed its term in August and both the PPP and PML-N locked horns over election-related issues.