Lashing out at the dismal performance of the PTI-led government, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s tirade against the prime minister in National Assembly on Tuesday boiled into a verbal clash with Speaker Asad Qaiser.
At the outset of his speech, Bilawal came down hard on the government over inflation skyrocketing since the 2018 general elections, saying today the helpless parliament is discussing inflation that has made the poor poorer.
How could a selected and incompetent prime minister feel for the miseries of his people? Bilawal asked. He also said: “Imran Khan is a man of small stature.”
His remarks about prime minister not only angered the government members but the speaker also asked him to be silent and warned that otherwise, he would adjourn the proceedings.
On it, Bilawal addressed the speaker saying it is not his job to defend the prime minister as being the custodian of the House he should be impartial. The speaker responded that every member of the National Assembly deserves respect. “You can criticize the government but you cannot insult any member of the House.”
The speaker also ordered to expunge Bilawal’s words. The government members also expressed anger over the speech of Bilawal Bhutto.
While pointing towards the empty desks of the ministers, Bilawal said they suggested the “level of interest” of the government for its people. However, the PPP Chairman said that the people’s representatives cannot keep silent over this economic murder that the government has been committing since taking over the reins of power.
Today, the prices of pulses have gone up by 85 percent, and the people are asking them whether to provide for the children or pay electricity bills. “Today, we are here to discuss an important issue, but the government is virtually absent except for a few insignificant ministers.”
“There has been a 50 to 90 percent increase in the prices of edible items, and it’s not a mere claim. I’m saying it from the figures from the Bureau of Statistics.”
“Prime Minister Imran Khan should tell the people which of his corruption led to this state of affairs? Only since last year, the government has borrowed 11,000 billion rupees.”
Bilawal said that PM Imran should admit he is “selected” and “incompetent”, and he must go home if he could not give relief to the people.
Further criticizing the government’s economic policy, Bilawal said that he does not accept what he would call “PTIMF” budget from day one. He said that the IMF deal is a compromise over Pakistan’s economic independence.
“Today, Chairman FBR is admitting that economic targets could not be achieved. Dr Hafeez Pasha says that 2.2 million people are feared to become jobless by the end of this year.”
Bilawal continued his fiery speech amid the noisy disruption from the government benches.
The PPP leader said that Benazir Income Support Programme fell victim to the rulers’ politics. He also said that a person of such a small stature as Imran Khan cannot tarnish the name of Benazir Bhutto, whose pictures they cannot tolerate.
The PPP Chairman said that they are not demanding Imran Khan’s suicide; they are just demanding relief for the people.
Earlier, senior PML-N leader and former foreign minister Khawaja Asif came to the National Assembly with all guns blazing, blasting the PTI government for the ‘mess’ it created throwing the country into a string of crises.
The leader from Sialkot was so vociferous in his criticism of the government that the state-run PTV, which broadcasts Parliament’s affairs live, suspended his speech twice before switching to show Senate proceedings.
Khawaja Asif said the FIA report into flour and sugar crises pointed finger at people sitting in the government. “The people who have cashed in on these shortages are part of the government,” he added.
Pointing towards government benches, Kh Asif said: “You can gauge the rulers’ seriousness from the empty seats of the ministers.”
“Imran Khan used to say that if there is corruption in the country that is because the rulers are corrupt and if there is inflation in the country then the prime minister is corrupt,” Asif said and added, “Instead of receding the corruption has soared.”
He maintained that the country has become a haven for thieves and hoarders. “Not the Opposition, but the rulers are their own enemies. They are handling the national economy as a child’s play.”
Khawaja Asif said “We do not want to be part of any conspiracy to bring in a change. We do not want people to get elected through the rigging.”
He said the PTI voters are now regretting their decision to vote for the party.
He termed turning of former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s house into a shelter home a ‘third-class’ move.
In response, Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar said that the country was on the verge of default when the PTI government took over. “Now international institutions are praising Pakistan’s reforms,” he added.
He admitted that there was a price hike in the country. “Decisions to raise electricity and gas rates are not the easy ones. But they are not made without reason.”
The minister said the government is set to announce a package aimed at bringing down prices in the country.