KARACHI: PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday said the federal government was trying to "steal" the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award share and constitutional rights of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but the opposition alliance will not allow that to happen.

Addressing the rally of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) in Malakand district, Bilawal said the government did not know how to run the country and that every resident of Malakand was demanding 'Go selected go!’.

"They are trying to steal your right. They want to steal the Constitution but as long as the people of Malakand are standing with us, we will not allow them to do so," he told the crowd.

The PPP leader claimed that the Centre had withheld Rs160 billion which was due to be paid to KP last year.

"This was KP's money, not Islamabad's. Imagine how many youths we could have gotten livelihoods for with that money but this puppet government wants to steal that from you. They do not know how to serve [the country]," he said.

Bilawal told the rally that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was envisioned by the PPP to pass through KP "but till today this inefficient government has kept you away from it", adding that while KP produced more gas than it needed, it was not given its due share.

Recalling the region's history of suffering from terrorism, the PPP leader alleged that when the Army Public School in Peshawar came under attack, "Imran Khan was dancing at Aabpara Chowk".

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021