Islamabad: Amid heated verbal exchanges in the runup to the February 8 general elections, Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari accused Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif of being driven by “hatred” and “revenge,” The News International reported on Tuesday.
“I know them [PML-N]. They have hatred, malice and revenge in their hearts...Mian Sahib’s first and second terms were no less than dictatorships,” Bilawal said while addressing a political gathering in Chiniot, Punjab.
His remarks come as political parties, including former allies such as the PML-N and the PPP, have been engaged in a verbal showdown in their bid to disseminate their respective narratives ahead of the February 8 polls.
Continuing his tirade against the PML-N supremo, the PPP chief warned that the former’s “revenge-centric approach” would adversely affect the masses, the country and its economy.
“Mian Sahib is habitual of revenge. He would take revenge, which no one can think of if he becomes the [country’s] prime minister for the fourth time,” The News International quoted Bilawal as saying.
“Their politics is based on violence,” he added, while warning the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers of disastrous consequences if Nawaz secures a fourth term as the country’s premier.
“The issue is that they [the Sharifs] only think about themselves. He [Nawaz] is worried about how to sit on the prime minister’s chair,” the former foreign minister said.
Elaborating on his party’s election manifesto, Bilawal said that the PPP would increase salaries by twofold.
“[We] will provide facilities for youth to get employment [...] and will build 3 million houses in Pakistan and give ownership rights to women,” he said, adding that his government would also regularise slums, The News International reported.
Earlier on Monday, in a veiled jibe at three-time PM Nawaz Sharif, the PPP Chairman said that he doesn’t need four but only one term in power to change the fate of the crisis-hit nation.
Addressing a rally in Sahiwal, Bilawal said, “I do not want four but one chance. If you give me a chance, I will change the fate of the country and solve all the problems.”
Notably, the PPP and PML-N were major partners in the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) 16-month government that was formed after overthrowing the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) government in April 2022.
However, as the general elections draw near, the PPP has been on a rampage against its former coalition partners, blaming the PML-N for the skyrocketing inflation and economic mismanagement in the short-term government, Geo News reported. (ANI)
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