Bilawal Bhutto asks Opposition to hold dialogue with govt

PPP Chairman and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has asked the Opposition in the National Assembly to hold dialogue with the government, adding that the speech of the Opposition Leader was nothing but crying foul for the vested interests, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Taking part in a debate on the presidential address to the joint session of the Parliament on Wednesday, Bilawal Bhutto said President Asif Ali Zardari’s address was “short and sweet”.

The president did not say anything “personal or political”, the PPP chairman said and added: “President Zardari asked the federal government to find solutions to the economic problems and his talking about holding a dialogue was for the general good.”

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He said the speech of the Opposition Leader was nothing but crying foul over nothing. He said the opposition has forgotten its political and legal role in the parliament. He said that the opposition will perform its duties in a true sense if it will play a positive role in the parliament.

He said there was no comparison between the martyrdom of Benazir Bhutto and the May 9 treason perpetrators.

He said the opposition leader was crying for his bail. Bilawal said it was the first time in the history of Pakistan that a civilian President addressed the joint session of the parliament for a record 7th time. He said President Zardari was of the view that to overcome inflation and poverty, parliament should promote a culture of dialogue. Without dialogue among the various stakeholders, it was impossible to counter the challenges faced by the country.

Bilawal also urged the Opposition to stop crying over their ego and democratically talk about public issues. He said it was the prime duty of the Opposition to play its role in resolving the public issues.

Ahead of the budget, the PPP chairman demanded the input of the opposition. He said Pakistan was going through a hard time but unluckily the opposition had forgotten its due role and PPP was reminding them that they (Opposition) were withdrawing salaries from the parliament therefore they should play their due part.

Bilawal said President Zardari talked about health and education. He claimed that the PPP-led government in Sindh had made remarkable progress in the health and education sectors and the PPP govt opened cardiology centres in all Sindh including Karachi.

He said the PPP govt also tried to resolve technical issues being faced in the education sector.

Bilawal said besides local issues, President Zardari rightly took up the issue of Kashmir and Palestine in the parliament. Bilawal said when the President was talking about Kashmir and Palestine issues in front of foreign diplomats, the opposition was shouting and blowing whistles in the parliament. Bilawal condemned the attitude of Opposition members by saying that it seemed the Opposition’s hue and cry was more important than the country’s problems as they often preferred their own problems.

PPP chairman said there was public fury over wheat and power issues in Azad Kashmir. President Zardari took notice of the issue and later the federal government accepted the demands of the protestors by announcing the Kashmir package which was praiseworthy.

Bilawal demanded that the ban on the import of wheat should be removed at once so that farmers can earn and the national economy also benefit from it.

He urged the government to take action today and help farmers who faced losses due to the poor policies of an undemocratic caretaker government.

Bilawal said farmers in Punjab and Sindh were protesting for acceptance of their due demands. He said agriculture and the farmers were the backbone of the country, adding that on farmers' issues, all political parties should stand united.

He also flayed the steps of the caretaker government which caused losses to national kitty and farmers as well. He said the govt should probe how wheat was imported when Pakistan was set to achieve record per acre yield in Pakistan.