report in The Express Tribune, Nov 13, 2023
KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Sharjeel Inam Memon said on Sunday any electoral alliance between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) would have no political significance and the PPP would clean sweep the coming general elections.
Addressing a press conference at the Bilawal House, Memon said before every elections, the political opponents tried to form an alliance against the PPP in Sindh but failed. He added that the PML-N remembered Sindh during the election days but whenever it got power it forgot the province.
“The sum of zero plus zero is zero,” Memon told reporters. “Make as many alliances as you want, but the [Pakistan] Peoples Party will clean sweep [in the general elections scheduled on February 8, 2024] in Sindh,” he said. “The coming year will be the year of the Peoples Party.”
Memon claimed that real election battles would be fought in central Punjab and not in Sindh. “The Peoples Party will win in Punjab and the next prime minister will be from Sindh,” he said, adding that the PPP would again save Pakistan by strengthening economy and defence.
“In 2018, an incompetent person was imposed on Pakistan, who destroyed the country’s economy. We do not want those people imposed on the country even in 2024, who do not care for the welfare of the nation and leave the people in difficult times and go abroad,” he continued.
“In the 2024 elections, the people’s vote will decide that no incompetent person will be imposed on the country. Incompetent parties will be rejected by the people. No incompetent would be imposed after the will of the people is asserted [in the elections].”
Memon criticised the PML-N, saying that the party never got power in any transparent elections but came to government through rigging. This time around, he added, those would visit Sindh only in times of rains and floods would fail.
Presenting the PPP’s credentials, he said that the party’s Sindh government did many things, endured oppression and cruelty but never left the field. He added that the provincial government’s historic projects in the health sector were unparalleled.
“The PPP worked in both rural and urban areas of Sindh. The PML-N has not built even a single hospital in Punjab. the PPP is building houses for 2 million people in Sindh. There were rains in Punjab too but the PML-N should tell us how houses it has built in Punjab,” he said.
Memon was all praise for the PPP chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and Co-Chairman Asif Zardari. He said that Asif Zardari was big-hearted and sagacious leader, who brought everyone together and sent a prime minister [Imran Khan] home in a democratic way.
“When Imran Khan was saying that his government was brought down by the White House, then Asif Ali Zardari said that the government of Imran Khan was brought down by Bilawal House and not by the White House,” he added.
He recalled that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) was formed by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Before that the PML-N was not in the position to issue a statement. “Later conspiracies started in the PDM and we were asked to resign from the assemblies. The PPP showed political insight and opposed it.”
He said that if the then opposition resigned from the assemblies, Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government would have got a chance to rule for five years and the country’s economy would have been completely ruined.
Memon stressed that the PPP wanted to forget bitterness of the past and move forward. He added: “We have no enmity with the PML-N and the MQM-P. The PPP will never try to repeat the politics of the 1990s. The PPP has always spoken about uniting the country.”
He claimed that the PML-N failed to fix the economy in a year and a half period after the departure of Imran Khan. On the other hand, he added, the PPP built hospitals, where the people of Punjab also came for treatment.
Memon also congratulated the Hindu community of the country on the occasion of Diwali. He announced that party would hold a rally in Thar on Monday (today).
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2446152/memon-belittles-impact-of-anti-ppp-alliance
