Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday claimed that the ruling PML-N had hijacked the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
"Former president Asif Ali Zardari signed the CPEC project in the presence of the Chinese president in the President House in 2013," Bilawal said while addressing a party power show in Hub.
Criticising the ruling party, he said the PML-N is attempting to take undue credit for the CPEC project. “This government did not treat Balochistan any better than a colony,” he said.
Bilawal alleged that CPEC's western project was ignored to [negatively] affect Balochistan. “Your people were also abducted just as ours,” he said. “Justice was not served to you just like it was not served to us.”
In an apparent reference to former president Pervez Musharraf, he accused the "dictator of fuelling a fire of hatred” in the province.
He claimed that when his party’s formed a government in the center, it managed to achieve what had not been done in the province during the past 70 years.
“They ask us what our government accomplished,” he said. “We initiated the programme of Aghaz Haqooq-e-Balochistan, we gave autonomy to provinces through the 18th amendment, and in 2013, Balochistan was the only province to have a surplus budget.”
He further said that the PPP-led government provided resources to Balochistan from the national exchequer and the Thar Coal project, introduced by his party, is providing the most benefit to locals.
“We will fight democratically against exploitative forces,” Bilawal said.
