by Muhakmuddin in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2023.
CHITRAL: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday repeated his call on the “traditional old guard politicians” to step back, emphasising that the country’s youth deserved a chance to shape their future without anyone else’s political baggage.
Addressing a public rally in Chitral, Bilawal dialled up his rhetoric against his party’s former partners in the previous coalition government, accusing the Shehbaz Sharif-led dispensation of neglecting public issues and indulging in personal vendetta.
The scion of Bhutto dynasty particularly targeted the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) – the mainstay of the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) government from April 2022 to August 2023 – saying that nation clearly witnessed how personal enmities took precedence over other concerns.
“Over the last 18 months, our coalition partners claimed to tackle citizens’ challenges. Yet, it all boiled down to personal animosities, shattering hopes for addressing economic, political, and democratic crises,” he said.
He added that the traditional politicians could not provide viable solutions and were intellectually bankrupt, lamenting that under their stewardship disillusionment prevailed in every sector — from the economy to foreign policy.
18th Amendment
Expressing optimism for change, the PPP chief championed the need for a transfer of leadership to younger figures, saying the upcoming February 8 general elections would serve the masses only if entrusted to youthful leadership.
Turning his attention to ongoing discussions around the potential re-evaluation of the 18th Constitutional Amendment and the National Finance Commission (NFC) award formula, Bilawal stressed that the 18th Amendment was the solution to the country’s issues.
If implemented in letter and spirit, the PPP chairman added, the amendment could devolve ministries to provinces, potentially saving billions, which could be used for employment creation, poverty reduction, and healthcare provision to the masses.
His statement came amid reports indicating the PML-N was contemplating on making adjustments to the 18th Amendment– enacted by the then PPP government in 2010. The PML-N, however, had refuted any such claim.
In his speech, Bilawal also dilated on various public welfare projects, his party intended to launch in the country if it was voted to power in the upcoming general elections. He pledged to provide perpetual wheat subsidies to Chitral and tax exemptions in Malakand and former tribal areas (Fata).
He said that a PPP government at the Centre would introduced ‘Apni Zameen Apna Makan’ [own plot and own house] scheme to grant property rights to slum dwellers, particularly in the flood-affected regions. He also pledged to fulfil a longstanding aspiration of the youth.
To realise the dream of development of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the PPP chairman stressed the need for a strong chief minister in the province. He said the government in province, opposing the Centre could be a hurdle to the federal developmental projects.
He urged the people of K-P to fully recognise current sensitive juncture and rid the province of old traditional politicians and pave the way for exemplary development of the province by making a Jayala their next chief minister by winning the PPP with a huge majority.
He told the gathering that the Bhutto family had a special relationship with Chitral, as his grandmother Begum Nusrat Bhutto had won the election from this area. We will invite Aseefa Bhutto Zardari [Bilawal’s sister] to contest the election for the National Assembly seat from Chitral.
Earlier, PPP K-P President Muhammad Ali Shah and former Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, besides Provincial vice president Salim Khan and local party leaders Amirullah Khan, Sharif Hussain and others also addressed the gathering.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2447656/bilawal-dials-up-rhetoric-against-the-old-guard
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Bilawal asks veterans to quit politics, let youth take up country’s reins
by Zahiruddin in Dawn, November 23rd, 2023
CHITRAL: Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday asked veteran politicians to call it a day allowing youth to take up the reins of the country.
“Youth form 70 per cent of the population and have the capability and passion to run the country along modern lines and thus, steering it out of the current morass,” the PPP leader told a public meetinghere.
Mr Bilawal said Pakistan was a country of fabulous resources and tremendous growth potential but its leadership that was well into old age impeded national progress, lacked vision, and focused its attention on settling scores with political rivals and amassing wealth after coming to power.
“They [veteran politicians] should either have a rest in their farmhouses or madrassas and pray for the welfare of the country and people acknowledging they can no more get along with modern times,” he said without naming names.
The PPP chairman said the 18 months long PDM-led government “failed” as his party’s allies wanted to take revenge from political rivals leaving the country’s grave economic and foreign policy issues unresolved.
He claimed that during his party’s rule, Sindh had seen more development and progress than the other three provinces and that its healthcare system was on par with international standards with facilities in Karachi being accessed by people from across the country……
The PPP leader said his party had proved to be only one with the “power and competence to fight poverty and natural disasters.”
He said the PPP wasn’t averse to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz or any other party and it was just fighting against poverty, unemployment and inflation, which had made life of the poor hell.
Mr Bilawal said his party hoped that the people would elect it to power yet again to serve them on the basis of its past performance and “character.”…….
https://www.dawn.com/news/1791637/bilawal-asks-veterans-to-quit-politics-let-youth-take-up-countrys-reins
