Chairman Pakistan People's Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said despite all challenges, Pakistan is making its first constitutional and peaceful transfer of power from a democratic government to a new democratic government due to a strong and democratic set-up, placed by the PPP government.
Addressing International Convention of PPP late Saturday, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto said Pakistan has been transformed from a dictatorship into a democracy and "we have restored the supremacy of parliament, stripped our constitution of the illegal powers, usurped by military dictators and nourished a thriving civil society and restored one of the freest presses in the world."
Clad in Shalwar Kameez and flanked by his sister Bakhtawar Bhutto, the Chairman PPP said "democracy in Pakistan is strong, growing and laying the groundwork for a very different nation than we have ever known."
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the PPP has always and will always stand by oversees Pakistanis and committed to ensuring right to vote to them in elections.
"We are committed to the idea that dual-nationals should be able to participate in all our country's civic matters, and that includes the right to contest elections," he told Pakistani community. He said no unelected people have the right to question the loyalty of anyone elected by the people of Pakistan; therefore, the expatriates should be given the right to vote and to contest the general elections.
Appreciating the contribution of the Pakistanis living abroad, he said, he could have their feelings as he was forced to live in exile along with his mother Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
He said most of the Pakistanis were first forced into exile during country's darkest dictatorship in the 1980s. Bilawal said in fact, it is under this PPP government that overseas remittances have increased from $6 billion, from when he replaced Musharraf's dictatorship, to almost $13 billion under the democratic government.
He said the PPP is transforming Pakistan and building its future. He said Pakistan People's Party is making history and added the democratic government has achieved more than ever that have been in the past.
Highlighting the achievements of democratic government, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the restoration of the 1973 Constitution has been part of election manifesto since 1986 and it is not until this government that has finally achieved this goal.
"We have devolved power to the provinces, thus decentralising government and bringing it closer to the people." Bilawal said Pakistan is undergoing the first peaceful transition of power in its 66-year history through a powerful and independent election commission.
He said this government has created the first social safety net for the poor in nation's history and it was dream of his mother. This government has passed more legislation for women in this parliament than in all past parliaments combined to ensure protection of women from domestic violence, he added.
He said: "This has been the only government not to hold people in prison for their political allegiances." Referring to the landmark Benazir Income Support Programme, he said, it has been introduced to help the poorest of poor, allowing them to provide food, clothing and shelter for themselves and their families.
He said the Waseela-e-Haq Programme, started by PPP government, was helping the poorest people to improve their lives. He said Waseela-e-Rozgar Programme, was started by the PPP government to provide full vocational and technical training to the poorest Pakistanis, empowering them with the skills they need to find work, earn an honest wage and in doing so help themselves, their families and the economy.
He said similarly Waseela-e-Sehet Programme was launched to improve the health of the people and life insurance to the poorest Pakistanis. He said similarly Waseela-e-Taleem Programme has been started to provide educational facilities to the poor.
Bilawal said the economy during the PPP government, despite many challenges, withstood the global economic catastrophe, natural disasters, and the menace of terrorism.
He said despite external shocks that led to fiscal deficit, Pakistan has, against all odds, managed to have an annual GDP growth rate of almost 4 percent.
"Our exports crossed an historic benchmark of $25 billion this year. It is the PPP's economic policies that helped achieve this. It is our agricultural policy that has transformed Pakistan from a wheat importer to a wheat exporter." Bilawal said in last 2 years agricultural policies have enabled farmers to earn an additional income of approximately Rs 800 billion.
He said the global escalation in the price of oil and food affects the daily life of the average Pakistani but the PPP has tried its best to limit the impact on the common man while at the same time maintaining fiscal responsibilities to the economy as a whole. He said despite the enormous economic challenges the government has more than halved inflation from its peak at 25 percent to 11 percent.
Referring to Bloomberg News, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said it has recently rated the Karachi Stock Exchange the 4th best performing in the world. "Not in South Asia, not in Asia, not in the East, but in the world that is beyond imagination and it should be projected in the media properly," he added.
He said: "We welcome constructive criticism. However, it is also our duty as Pakistanis to unite and highlight the good, not just the bad."
He said the PPP government took a number of steps for the welfare of the labourers and regularised 12,000 contract employees, increased government employees' salaries by more than 125 percent in the last four years.
Shares were distributed among the workers under Benazir Employees Stock Option scheme, he added.
Referring to the reconciliation policy of Benazir Bhutto, Bilawal said all the provinces have been given equal rights and some of genuine grievances of the smaller provinces were addressed. Commenting on the Balochistan situation, Bilawal said "with every missing person and with every dead body, we realise a Baloch family loses hope in Pakistan." He said: "We have stopped living in denial, and we cannot let the province bleed the way it has and taken historic measures to address the underlying causes of the challenges in Balochistan."
He said: "Where Musharraf treated the people of Balochistan as enemies of the State, we see them as an integral part of our State of Pakistan." He said the share of the Balochistan in the new NFC has been more than Rs 95 billion as opposed to less than Rs 40 billion before PPP government took power.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said Human Rights Commission, is designed to serve as a watchdog group to protect and fight for the human rights wherever they may be infringed upon.
"We have increased minority representation in Parliament to make their voices heard on the national stage and our Party has always been the party for equal rights, and it is our party that produces men of the calibre of Shaheed Salmaan Taseer and Shaheed Shahbaz Bhatti," he added.
Condemning the making of blasphemous film, he said all major political parties in Pakistan have called for international legislation that restricts hate speech and criminalises incitement to violence.
"We believe a truly independent and impartial judiciary is a fundamental component to a democratic Pakistan, that is why we respect the majesty of justice and accept the rulings of our Supreme Court, despite reservations," he added.
He said the PPP has stood shoulder to shoulder with the lawyer community in the quest for the restoration of an independent judiciary. He said the democratic government of the PPP opposed the drone strikes and added it will fight this war on its own terms and not at the dictation of any foreign power.
"Unlike the military dictator before us, who took orders from a single phone call, we have taken ownership of our foreign policy and our Parliament conducted a full review of our foreign policy, giving the people's approval to our actions," he added.
He said, "Unlike the military dictator, we have not been afraid to stand up to superpowers and we shut the supply routes in protest, we permanently shut Shamsi Air Base."
President Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob, President PPP USA Chaudhry Shafqat Tanveer, Qaim Gilani, Chaudhry Wahid Buksh Bhatti, Mian Basharat, Morez Mir, Farhat Chaudhry and Sarwar Chaudhry also spoke on this occasion. Chairman Pakistan People's Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was also given "Voice of Democracy" award from the PPP USA for his efforts in promoting the democracy.
Earlier, various delegations of Pakistan People's Party from different states of USA and Canada separately called on Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and discussed with the party affairs, reorganisation of the party and making it more effective and a strong political force.
The Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his sister Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari were given rousing welcome when they arrived at the venue of the convention.
Comments
Comments are closed.