19:10
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LAHORE: Deputy Prime Minister Ch Pervaiz Elahi has reiterated his commitment to contesting the upcoming polls in coalition with the PPP and said the process of seat adjustments would be completed amicably.
He claimed that they had an alliance with the Sunni Ittehad Council head Sahibzada Fazal Kareem and were making efforts to forge further alliances or seat adjustments with other political parties, including the Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran of Dr Tahirul Qadri, which had entered the field with a new thinking.
Pervaiz made it clear that they had met Qadri for his views on reforms in the EC rules, as they had already been calling for the empowerment of chief election commissioner like India. Nevertheless, he ruled out any possibility of their participation in the long march of Tahir-ul-Qadri and claimed they had not even discussed it with Qadri.
He said electoral reforms could take place even before the elections on which they would make efforts for a broader consensus even after including Qadri. He claimed that they had a bitter experience of the recent by-polls in the Punjab where the chief election commissioner miserably failed to stop the massive rigging done by the provincial government.
Addressing a press conference at his residence here onTuesday, Pervaiz said the PML alliance with the PPP was working smoothly. He stated they would try to have alliance and seat adjustment with other parties also. Senator Kamil Ali Agha, Basharat Raja and Ch Zaheeruddin were also present on the occasion.
The deputy prime minister said he had conveyed to the EC officials regarding rigging plans of the PML-N government in the Punjab and had requested them for deputing the Rangers for supervising the electoral process during the by-polls.
He alleged that the Election Commission proved toothless and could not stop the PML-N from indulging in massive rigging in Punjab. He claimed that all the leading political parties had strong reservations over the role of Election Commission except the PML-N and their chief minister Shahbaz Sharif had already been doing cat walk with two-thirds majority in his pocket even before the general elections.
Pervaiz Elahi challenged that those claiming good governance during the last five years in the Punjab should compare their performance with his tenure spanning from 2002 to 2007. He termed all the projects of PML-N government in Punjab as flop including Sasti Roti Scheme, Danish Schools, Yellow Cab Scheme, Ashiana Housing Scheme and Laptop Scheme.
He referred the reports of auditor general of Punjab and NAB which had pinpointed massive corruption in these projects. He criticized the “Jangla Bus Service” of Shahbaz Sharif and alleged that the provincial government had openly flouted rules and regulations for which they would be answerable.
He pointed out that Metro train project, foundation of which was laid by him, was the most modern project of the world. He claimed that the Asian Development Bank had approved $ 1.5 billion for this project and the provincial government was not spending a penny from its kitty compared with the “Jangla Bus Service” which was being constructed with the cost of Rs 70 billion and the entire amount was spent by the provincial government.
He claimed that the subsidy of one billion rupees would be provided out of the tax money of the people for the maintenance and operation of Jangla Bus Service every month. He said the PML-N government in the Punjab is functioning due to kindness of the media, otherwise they were not doing any good work as such.
He said the life of Lahore Metro Train Service infrastructure was more than 100 years on which 35,000 passengers were expected to travel every hour while the life of “Jangla Bus Service” is only a few years long and it would carry only 5000 passengers per hour.
The deputy prime minister said this project had divided Lahore in two parts because the “janglas” erected by the provincial government in the middle of Lahore had divided families living in Lahore and the culture of the city.
He said this project would prove as graveyard of N-League in Lahore. He claimed that they had dug and constructed Ferozpur Road three times during the past eleven months. He said the expenses being incurred on “Jangla Bus” including installations of the electricity, telephones, gas, water pipelines and repairs were not being mentioned anywhere.
Ch Pervaiz Elahi said the result of the five years performance of the Punjab government is before the media people, trillions of rupees of the public money have been dumped in the failed and flop schemes and this has also been verified by the auditor general Punjab and NAB chairman.
He said for the “Jangla Bus” project rendering Punjab bankrupt that under the “good governance programme” of Shahbaz Sharif, thousands of shops have been demolished and destroyed, shopkeepers are sitting idle with no business to do and thousands of poor salesmen and small employees have been rendered unemployed.
He said the incumbent rulers should have fear of the wrath of Allah and pay compensation to the affectees on priority basis. He claimed they had fully compensated the owners of the lands and the tenants during the construction of projects including Ring Road and the underpasses.
He said he had constructed 37,000 kilometers long new roads during his tenure as chief minister Punjab, completed Lahore Ring Road up to 70 per cent and Lahore-Kasur Road to the extent of 90 per cent but the incumbent government had placed their plaques on these projects, claiming these had been constructed by them.
APP adds: Meanwhile, the Ulema and Mashaikh wing of the PML-Q Tuesday announced to join the long march of Tahirul Qadri. Chairing a meeting held here at the PML House, Pir Chiragh Shah, head of the Ulema and Mashaikh Wing, asked the government to get drone strikes stopped and take measures for welfare of the people of Pakistan. Special assistant to PM Imtiaz Ranjha was also present.
He claimed the country was passing through critical stage and there was a need for all political parties to join hands to get the country out of crisis situation. He also reogranised the Ulema Wing and notified new office-bearers.
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