No election schedule as yet: Sindh’s uplift funds being frozen, claims Bilawal

KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Friday said that even before the announcement of the general elections schedule, all the development funds including rehabilitation projects for flood victims in Sindh are being frozen and officers are being transferred.

Bilawal demanded of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to look into why the duplicitous policy is being run only against Sindh and why the above rules and regulations are not being implemented in the Center, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to a press release issued by Media Cell Bilawal House, Chairman PPP visited the residence of party’s ex-MNA late Sher Muhammad Baloch in Dawood Goth area of Malir and extended his condolence to the bereaved family.

Later, speaking to the media, Bilawal said the date of the election has not been announced as yet, but the ECP is exercising powers that are not within its discretion. “I demand that restrictions on development work in Sindh be lifted, and until the ECP announces the schedule of upcoming general election, the ban on development work should be lifted,” he demanded and adding that the funds for the flood victims shouldn’t be frozen in Sindh alike in Punjab and the Center.

Chairman PPP said the ECP should announce the date of the next general elections without delay. He said that there is a difference of opinion among the PPP, ECP and PDM on the interpretation of the constitution regarding the holding of general elections, adding that the PPP believes that according to the constitution it is necessary to hold elections within 90 days, but the ECP and other parties maintain that it is necessary to delimit the constituencies before the elections.

In response to a question regarding Maulana Fazal Rehman’s recent statement, Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that his party was ready for elections earlier and as well as today, adding that PPP was ready for election on May 14 and also within 60 days. This question should be asked to those who run away from every election.

In response to a journalist’s question about the meeting of the business community with the COAS General Asim Munir, Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said businessmen’s meeting with the army chief is not a new thing in the country, as the business community has been meeting military chiefs in the past as well. “The country’s business community has access to politicians and bureaucracy, including the army chief and the judiciary,” he maintained.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023