PTI gave Rs20b amnesty to 56 rich families, says Bilawal

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has strongly criticised the PTI’s new Pakistan for having separate laws for the rich and the poor, saying that Imran Khan, who raised the slogan of not two but one Pakistan, created a separate Pakistan for the rich and a separate Pakistan for the poor.

“In the new Pakistan, there is relief for tax evaders through amnesty schemes and inflation for the salaried class of taxpayers, while Imran Khan’s change is only to reward the rich by snatching subsidies from the poor,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. Bilawal said Imran Khan’s economic initiatives are benefitting only certain capitalist families of the country. “The selected prime minister on the one hand gives amnesty to his capitalist friends to legalise nameless properties and on the other hand issues ordinance for expensive electricity,” he said. He said capitalists and industrialists in the new Pakistan are benefiting from amnesty schemes and collecting taxes from consumers. Bilawal said the PML-N had given benefits to 135 rich families amounting up to Rs43 billion during its tenure in government and the PTI government gave amnesty of more than Rs20 billion to 56 rich families. He raised the question that those who gave amnesty schemes by claiming to bring the rich into the tax net should tell what they did for the common man. Meanwhile, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday welcomed the recent judgment of the Supreme Court on Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s review petition and demanded the resignation of President Dr Arif Alvi and accountability of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Law Minister Faroogh Naseem and Adviser to Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar. “President Dr Arif Alvi acted as the prime minister’s accomplice in this illegal and unconstitutional attack and as a result lost any moral right to continue in office and should resign immediately,” he added. Bilawal said the accountability process must start from the prime minister, who initiated this reference with a malafide intent of attacking the Supreme Court and attempted to send a message of fear to every independent judge in the country.