Bilawal unveils 10-point election manifesto focusing on poor

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday unveiled a 10-point election manifesto with an emphasis on welfare schemes, Aaj News reported.

Addressing an event in Garhi Khuda Bukhsh on the 16th death anniversary of his mother Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated on December 27, 2007, in Rawalpindi, Bilawal promised free education, health, cash handouts, and food for farmers and labourers.

“It will be in our plan to double the salaries within five years. We will provide 300 units of solar energy to the underserved free of cost,” he said.

He promised to provide a free-of-cost health facility to the masses in every district across the country.

The PPP chairman unveiled a plan to build 2 million homes in the flood-affected areas in Sindh.

Bilawal fired a fresh salvo against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, saying he was relying on “others” for the upcoming polls, in the same manner they had done so in the past.

Reiterating his resolve to contest the elections regardless of the challenges, the PPP chairman said that he would face his political opponents in Lahore.

“I had told my team that I wanted to contest from Lahore. I’ll take the battle to Lahore. Let’s see what happens,” he said.

“Is it Lahore’s destiny that the same person will be installed for the fourth time?” Bilawal said while taking a jibe at the PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, who is eying a record-fourth term as the country’s prime minister.

Bilawal said his party always wanted elections compared with “other parties who attempted to extend the date of elections or snatch nomination papers from their political opponents.”

“Our message to other parties is to contest election against us despite using others’ shoulders to do politics,” he added.

In an apparent jibe at both Imran and Nawaz Sharif, Bilawal said one of his opponents was contesting elections to get out of jail while the other was doing it to avoid going to jail.

Without naming PML-N, he said that the PPP formed a coalition government to oust Imran Khan, however, he claimed that “they [PML-N] was never interested in democracy or to control inflation. We have now decided to part ways with them.”