PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday began the party’s ‘Awami March’ from Karachi which is aimed at toppling the government and ousting Prime Minister Imran Khan, prompting a sharp response from the federal ministers.

“The PPP and the opposition have decided to send this [PTI] government packing,” he said while addressing the gathering before the start of the long march.

Bilawal blamed the incumbent government and its deal with the International Monetary Fund for the economic and prevailing woes in the country. PM Imran and the federal minister have time and again defended the deal as a bailout package to strengthen the economy, which was apparently weakened by previous governments of PPP and PML-N.

“It is impossible to achieve anything until this puppet is in the government and the ‘PTIMF’ deal is in place. The time has come to bring the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan and send him home,” he said, “Now with this march, cries will be heard from Banigala.”

Quoting the Transparency International report, the PPP chairman alleged that the PTI-led government has broken all records of corruption. He further accused it of not releasing the National Finance Commission Awards for provinces.

He added that the reason for starting the protest from Karachi was the economic hub of the country and its people were “most affected” because of the prevailing policies.

“The people have been compelled to send PM Imran packing because this illegitimate and incompetent selected has robbed the people of Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of their rights,” Bilawal said.

He vowed that the party after coming into power would complete the mission of Quaid-e-Awam and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto of parliamentary democracy and defend the 1973 Constitution, the rights of the people and the country’s economy.

Bilawal said: “The Awami government will provide resources to the provinces hence all the cities will get their due share. The PPP will put the demands of the people before the people of every city on the way to Islamabad during this long march. We will attack this government after reaching Islamabad.”

Meanwhile, Bilawal in a series of tweets shared a document ‘Why We March’.

"We march for the marginalized, for the unfairly treated, for the unheard, for the voiceless. We march for Haq-e-Hakmiat. We march for Haq-e-Malkiat. We march for Haq-e-rozgar. We march for Haq-e-Barabri," he said in a video message.

Holding fair elections and all institutions to perform their duties as prescribed under the Constitution of 1973 are among the many demands of the PPP, according to the document.

Govt reaction

Federal ministers Sheikh Rashid and Fawad Chaudhry in their separate statements criticised Bilawal and called him "naive" for the protest. They defended the government. Fawad was of the view that the opposition was "clueless" as they were unaware of their leaders.

“We have been hearing for the last 15 to 20 days that the no-trust move was around the corner, but in reality that is beyond their power as they lack the capacity to bring the motion,” he said while speaking to media in Pind Dadan Khan.

Fawad said that the opposition’s current hustle was not more than an activity to keep their Members of Parliament (MPs) politically engaged, adding that any move to oust the PTI government will fail.

Commenting about the PDM upcoming march towards Islamabad, the minister said it seemed that the PTI would have to provide the people for their face-saving and political survival.

To a query, he said PTI leader Jahangir Tareen stands by the party and would continue to support the government.

(With input from APP)