Opposition does not have a level playing field: Bilawal Bhutto

Islamabad: Chairman Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that the opposition does not have a level playing field in the media, courts and now in the Parliament too.

This was not the vision of the founders of the nation. Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said this while addressing APC hosted by the PPP here.

In the beginning of his address, he thanked all the participants and said that we have gathered here to form a strategy for the future because in the last two years, this selected government has troubled the common people of Pakistan.

He said that the people of Pakistan are waiting for a substantial outcome from this APC, not ordinary resolutions or mere statements. The people of Pakistan want freedom which is guaranteed by the constitution and the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He said that without democracy in the country, the economic rights of the people are trampled over by antidemocratic forces. We can see the result of this selected government which has stalled economic growth, increased inflation and price hike, and with this lack of democracy, the society has weakened. The crimes in the country are on the increase while the law and order situation is worsening. We need elected people so that the voices of the weak are heard.

Today, we have seen that this selected government has left people abandoned at the mercy of natural disasters, pandemic and difficult times. This callous government had targeted our doctors, nurses and our paramedics during the times of Covid-19. People have lost their homes in one of the worst floods in the country, which is why every stratum of the society is protesting. The people have been usurped of their right to present their narrative in the media. The elected representatives were not allowed to talk in the joint session of the Parliament and the government refused to count the votes of the Parliamentarians.

Chairman PPP said that amongst us are the people who had struggled for democracy and peoples’ rights in MRD and ARD. We all have seen dictatorships and controlled democracy in Pakistan and this is the time to demand real democracy. This is our responsibility to unite and struggle for real democracy. This is the time to make a new Charter of Democracy and to take it to people from Balochistan to Azad Kashmir and the rural areas. If we are not allowed to spread this message through the media, then we would have to go door to door and transform the peoples’ support into our strength. We have to challenge not only this government but its facilitators from the streets, but also from the places that they are occupying right now. They are occupying the National Assembly and the Senate but we have to free our Parliament.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that we cannot give hope to the people until we obtain freedom for them. He asked for advice from the participants and said that every decision taken in this forum will be pursued till the end. If we have to pay sacrifices to get freedom for our people, we will do so. We will free our people, he vowed.