KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that his party has been working on election reforms and he did not want the rigging that took place in 2018 and earlier to happen again.
“We need to make reforms in this regard, for which we are ready, but the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) can play a very important role in this regard,” he added.
Addressing a press conference at Bilawal House, the PPP chairman said that the Benazir Mazdoor Card Scheme would be first for the 600,000 workers who are currently working in industrial enterprises, but our effort would be that this card should be given to every worker in the Sindh province.
The PPP chief said that no one takes the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) regime’s position seriously and sitting with the swindlers to stop the rigging seems strange. The most important and fundamental point to prevent election rigging was the role of the establishment in the elections and if this role persists then no matter how much legislation is enacted, the elections will remain controversial.
“Everyone saw that the Establishment had no active role in the NA-249 elections, so we want them to not only legislate but also create a consensus that the Establishment has no role in politics and elections,” he said.
Responding to another question, the PPP chairman said that if the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had evidence of any rigging, it should approach the ECP and not to appeal to the army. “If the PML-N appeals to the army to intervene after losing a seat, it would be detrimental to the electoral process,” he added.
He pointed out that during the 2018 elections, the troops deployed inside and outside every polling station and the largest army deployment in any elections in history, but those elections proved to be controversial. “We believe that this makes not only elections but also institutions unnecessarily controversial and consider PML-N statement irresponsible,” he added.
Replying to a question about Bahria Town, Bilawal said that the recent incident regarding Bahria Town took place on the day when by-elections were being held in NA-249. “Work has been stopped there and I am awaiting the report of the chief minister of Sindh in this regard,” he added.
He said that he had earlier demanded that the money kept with the judiciary regarding Bahria Town be handed over to the Sindh government so that issues like water and drainage in Malir and other areas of the province could be resolved.
Replying to yet another question, Bilawal said that the PPP had proved to the opposition parties that the no-confidence motion could work. It is the responsibility of the opposition parties to oppose the government instead of opposing PPP.
In response to another question, he said that if Imran Khan was talking about dissolving the assemblies, and the PML-N was talking about resignations, it meant that the two parties were on the same page. The vote will not be respected if the parliament is not respected.
Despite holding a majority in Punjab, Buzdar is not being challenged because, PML-N thinks Buzdar can do as much damage to Punjab and its people, which is in the advantage of PML-N. “We have shown the way that the Federal government can also be taken after Punjab through the no-confidence motion through the results of the Senate election from Islamabad,” he added.
On the occasion, he described the Benazir Mazdoor Card as a revolutionary step by the Sindh government and said that 3 million workers of Sindh would benefit from this scheme in the near future.
He further said that whether the workers are associated with the construction sector or work in houses, following electronic registration they will be given Benazir Mazdoor Card, enabling them to avail the same facilities available to limited to industrial workers.
Bilawal said that this card will ensure the provision of health and medical facilities to the workers, this card will be usable even during maternity and in case of accidental death relief money will be provided besides other facilities. He urged the labourers and workers who are not yet registered in the industries to register themselves so that they can avail the benefits of the scheme.
PPP chairman said that his party’s ideology and manifesto was that if the workers were prosperous then the industry and economy would also prosper.
“We want Benazir Mazdoor Card accessible to every toiling worker so that we can move towards social security thinking, which is an important part of the PPP’s manifesto.”
He demanded that the Workers Welfare Board and EOBI be handed over to the provinces adding that these institutions should have been devolved to the provinces by 2015 under the 18th Amendment, but this has not happened yet. “These institutions should be handed over to the provinces so that the provinces can do more for their workers,” he emphasised.
Meanwhile, a meeting of labour leaders was held at Bilawal House before the press conference chaired by Bilawal, in which the labour leaders briefed on the situation of workers in the context of current inflation in the country.
Those labour leaders present, at the meeting, appreciated the issuance of Benazir Mazdoor Card by the Sindh government.
Senator Raza Rabbani, PPP Information Secretary Shazia Marri and prominent economist Qaisar Bengali were also present. The meeting was attended by Peoples Labour Bureau Sindh President Habibuddin Junaid, Hussain Badshah, Lal Bakhsh Kalhoro, Javed Mangi, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) Executive Director Karamat Ali, Zulfiqar Shah, Chairman Railway Workers Union Manzoor Razi, Liaquat Magsi of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board People’s Labour Union, Chairman Pakistan Steel Mills People’s Workers Union Shamshad Qureshi, Saleem Soomro, Muhammad Ashraf of PIA People’s Unity, Mauladad Leghari Aslam Samoon, Fayyaz Shah from Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) People’s Labour Bureau, Nasir Mansoor leader of National Trade Union Federation of Pakistan, Farhat Parveen leader of National Organization for Working Communities, Zahra Khan of Home-Based Women Workers Federation.
Also present on the occasion were Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, former Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani, Senator Sherry Rehman, MNA Shazia Marri, Provincial Ministers Saeed Ghani and Nasir Hussain Shah, Peoples Labour Bureau Sindh President Habibuddin Junaidi and social activist Karamat Ali.
