'PM Imran Khan has made life a living hell for people in the name of Naya Pakistan': Bilawal

• People of Pakistan want to talk about the issues of Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, and Lahore instead of international issues, says Bilawal.
• Says the government did not take the Opposition on board when developing the budget.
• Claims that owing to the rising inflation in the country, government employees are forced to commit suicide.

Following Prime Minister Imran's budget speech in the National Assembly on Wednesday, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that the PTI-led government has made life a living hell for the masses in the name of "Naya Pakistan."

Bilawal said that the premier is trying to make a fool out of people because all the measures his government has taken are in favour of the rich instead of the poor.

"The masses do not want to listen to the prime minister delivering a lecture," he said. "What sort of a hypocrisy is that?"

The PPP chairman asked the prime minister to give an account of his performance in the last three years because there has been a "historical increase" in poverty and unemployment. 

Bilawal said that the government did not take the Opposition on board when developing the budget, while he also censured the speech delivered by the premier and said that it was "nothing but a mere manipulation of words."

He also said that the people of Pakistan want to talk about the issues of Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, and Lahore instead of international issues. 

"The prime minister spoke of economic development but he is inviting immigrants to the country," Bilawal said. "The PM makes tall claims about the poor but his actions and policies do not correspond. He's making the rich richer and the poor poorer."

Bilawal claimed owing to the rising inflation in the country, government employees are forced to commit suicide.

"People want solutions to their problems. They are fed up with [the premier] constantly speaking about the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO)," he said, adding that the new budget will lead to a further decline of the country's economy. 

He said that the premier would "not be able to get any taxes from the masses" because, in order for people to contribute to the national exchequer, they must have confidence in the state as well as in the democracy.

'Budget session source of embarrassment'

During his speech in the Parliament today, the PPP chairperson lashed out at the government's legislative process, accusing it of "rigging".

"We think that this budget session has become a source of embarrassment for every Pakistani," he said. "Mr Speaker, I complain to you that you have snatched our rights from us," added Bhutto.

Bilawal told NA Speaker Asad Qaiser that the Opposition lawmakers expected him to keep the "sanctity of the chair" and act neutrally.

He said if "rigging" had not been carried out yesterday when the finance bill was being approved, the government would not have been able to obtain 172 votes.

He said the Opposition members had more rights than merely reading out their amendments to the bill.

"We have the right to be heard also," he said. "If our right to vote is not protected then what will become of the protection of the right of ordinary Pakistanis?" he asked.

Bilawal said the Opposition asked for a recount of the votes but the speaker did not oblige him. He said even Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri kept taking time and did not oblige the Opposition.

However, Bilawal admitted that the Opposition members were also to blame for their poor attendance during the session.

The PPP chairperson accused the speaker of not protecting the rights of the Opposition members, adding that "the whole nation saw that if you did not rig [the parliamentary process] then you wouldn't have received 172 votes".

Taking a dig at Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, Bhutto said that an "unelected member" kept rejecting the Opposition's amendments.

"According to Rule 276, if there is a voice vote challenge, you have to count it," said Bhutto.

Bhutto told the speaker that he challenged the vote during the last phase of the legislation but "you did not listen to me".

"What else is it, if not rigging?" the PPP leader asked before concluding his speech, leaving and then returning when the foreign minister challenged him to come back. 

Urges PM Khan to tape FM Qureshi's phone

Earlier in the day, Bilawal, while speaking in the National Assembly, took a dig at the foreign minister and said that the country's intelligence should tape his telephonic conversations.

"I would like to request the prime minister to order the ISI to tape Shah Mahmood Qureshi's phone," taunted Bhutto. "When he used to be our foreign minister, he ran a campaign around the world to make him the prime minister, instead of Yousaf Raza Gillani," he added.

"That is why we sacked him from the post of foreign minister," added the PPP leader.

The foreign minister responded to the PPP leader's accusations, telling him that he also knew Bhutto "since he was a little kid".

He hit back at the PPP chairperson by referring to him as a "kid".

"I know you since you were a kid and I also knew your parents as well," he added.