Transparent polls vital for country’s progres

Syed Waliullah Shah

NOWSHERA: Chairman, Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari here Monday said that free, fair and transparent election was peneaca of all the country’s problems.

Bilawal addressing a workers’ convention in Nowshera said that he is thankful to the Jiyalas for providing him with an opportunity to meet them. Bilawal said that the PPP is feeling the loss of Liaqat Shabab after reaching Nowshera.

The series of the party’s conventions has made it apparent that the Jiyalas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have woken up, are charged, demanding for elections and not running away from them. Bilawal said that the Jiyalas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa faced three dictators and also faced terrorists and extremists while looking at them in the eye. They rendered great sacrifices but did not back down from their ideology and support for the Party. We are proud of our Jiyalas.

Bilawal said that there is a plethora of issues we are witnessing in the country. Inflation, poverty and unemployment have reached unprecedented levels and Islamabad is doing nothing to rectify them. The peace that had been established in the country with much difficulty, through the sacrifices of the people and the country’s security forces. The terrorists we worked so hard to chase out of the country were willingly brought in and released, which has led to catastrophic consequences. The police and Army are being targeted.

Today, people are questioning whether this is the same democracy that had been promised by Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, for which he accepted martyrdom along with his daughter, heed Benazir Bhutto. Chairman Bilawal said that we need to derive solutions for all the problems that we are faced with, be it those related to our security, economy, democracy or the Constitution. Only the PPP can do this.

This is because it is a party of the people. It is our hope that the Election Commission of Pakistan and Justice Qazi Faez Isa will ensure that the upcoming elections are not controversial and their results are not questioned, because if they are, then what is the use of wasting billions of rupees that belong to the people? If free and fair elections do not take place, then the government made as a result will not be able to represent the country and solve its problems. We will witness the same old outcome, with one side ruling over the country unjustly while the other cries foul.

It is our request to the other political parties that they do not waste their manifestos and narrative by contesting the elections with the help of the administration. We do not need the help of any administration as the PPP trusts the people of Pakistan. This is because we know that the people of Pakistan will vote in favour of the PPP because only one party has consistently represented the poor instead of the elite along with the farmers, labourers, students and the four provinces. The farmers were given ownership of their land by the PPP. The labourers were given their rights by the PPP. The Benazir Income Support Programme, an initiative of the PPP has supported the poorest of women financially.

In the manner in which poverty and unemployment are increasing rapidly, the people know that only the PPP can hinder their pace. Those who criticise the slogan of ‘Roti, Kapra Aur Makaan’, should know that as long as these problems persist, the Party would continue to raise it.

For the PPP, this is not just a slogan as we do not forget our manifesto after winning the elections. “It is my promise to the people of the country that I will fight for them, run the economy as per the principles of Bhuttoism, so that the benefits are reaped by my farmers labourers and not the elite”, Chairman Bilawal said. This is not to say that the businesses are to suffer, it is just our demand that they share their profits with the shareholders, including the poor and the labourers.