MIRPURKHAS: As the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari continues to direct criticism at his rival for the prime ministership, Nawaz Sharif, claiming that the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League and Nawaz supremo puts his own interests ahead of those of the nation, political tensions are rising.
“At an election rally in Mirpurkhas on Saturday, the 35-year-old candidate for the top spot in the coming polls stated, ‘Mian sahib [Nawaz] does not care about the economy or the country’s loss, he only wants to reach the [prime minister’s] seat.”
The 74-year-old three-time premier Nawaz, who is seen by observers as the front-runner in the general election scheduled for February 8, is older than twice as old as Oxford-educated Bilawal.
Political parties hold their election campaigns with a few days remaining in the competition.
Bilawal criticized the former premier’s political aspirations, saying, “Whatever his [Nawaz] lust for power leads to, he has to sit on the seat of authority.”
The politician continued by claiming that all other political parties were engaged in politics of retaliation, while only the PPP was focused on the welfare of the nation.
In an indication of the public’s support, Bilawal declared that the PPP would respond to all inquiries on election day.
“Today it’s raining, but on February 8th, arrows—the PPP’s electoral symbol—will rain,” he declared, alluding to the rainfall in Mirpurkhas and other Pakistani cities.
In addition, the PPP chairman called Nawaz a “coward” for pulling out of the debate in which he had invited the PML-N.
“Knowing they haven’t done anything, they are afraid. Regarding Nawaz’s hometown of Raiwand, Bilawal stated, “They are pressuring the caretaker government to send Form 45 there.”
Then, on February 8, the former foreign minister urged his followers to stay in the polls.
Concurrently, Nawaz, conducting a campaign rally in Gujranwala, asserted that under its previous administration, corruption had been effectively tackled. The party cited a Transparency International study that showed Pakistan’s improvement in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).
Recalling his years as the nation’s top executive from 2013 to 2017, Nawaz asserted that the PML-N administration was successful in combating widespread inflation as well as corruption.The main opponent of the PML-N’s election manifesto is the Bilawal Bhutto-led PPP, which is also promising significant economic relief in the form of free healthcare, electricity, and social welfare in an effort to win over voters who have been hit hard by rising utility costs and inflation.
