Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also heavily criticised the new tax reforms for making people’s lives worse than ever…reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari slammed the Imran Khan government for rising inflation and said if the country wanted to get rid of soaring inflation, the ruling PTI-led government must be sent home.
Censuring the presidential ordinance on the collection of up to 35 per cent income tax through electricity bills, the PPP chairperson on Saturday claimed that after the imposition of the new tax regulation, people were finding it hard to keep their head above water, The Express Tribune reported.
“The people are already depositing billions of rupees in the national treasury in the form of indirect taxes on everything from basic necessities to mobile recharge cards,” he said.
Bilawal stated, “We strongly reject the 5 per cent income tax on electricity bills up to Rs 10,000 and 10 per cent income tax on bills up to Rs 20,000”.
The nation must decide if they want to save themselves from inflation, which is only possible if they get rid of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government, Bilawal said.
He further added that if people across the country do not come onto the streets with resolve against inflation, the PTI government will not stop harassing them, The Express Tribune reported.
Increasing prices
Pakistan’s opposition parties on Saturday staged a demonstration against the ruling Imran Khan government for increasing prices of essential commodities in the country.
Activists of the opposition Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) staged a demonstration in the native Marghuz village of National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser in Pakistan’s Swabi district on Saturday to protest the increasing prices of essential commodities, Dawn reported.
They were holding placards and banners inscribed with slogans against the government and its policies.
Addressing the protesters, the speakers said that inflation had reached such an alarming level that the poverty-stricken people had been virtually forced to commit suicide because it was not possible for them to meet the needs of their families, a Pakistani publication reported.
\ANP leader Akmal Khan said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had been ruling Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for eight years now, but during this period its leadership had made only empty pledges and did nothing for the masses, Dawn reported.
He said that inflation continued to climb during this period and had reached an unbearable point.
Other ANP activists said that they would now educate the people of the province about the causes of the price hike and expose the government’s anti-people policies.
Meanwhile, ANP district president Amanullah and Mukhtiar Khan said that they would hold a protest on Monday (tomorrow), as the party leadership had directed for holding such gatherings across the province, a Pakistani publication reported.
They claimed that the situation had reached a point where people wanted to get rid of the incumbent regime. They appealed to the party workers to participate in the protests, Dawn reported.