Salman Taseer lashes out at Shahbaz Sharif
LAHORE: Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer broke his silence on Monday, six days after imposition of governor’s rule in the province, to make the country’s already murky political scene murkier.
He said he would call the provincial assembly session for electing a new leader of house only when he was satisfied that one or the other political party or a coalition of two parties had attained clear-cut majority to form the government.
Taseer, who is acting as the chief executive of the province since the imposition of the governor’s rule in Punjab, did not say if he intended to convene the provincial session for the ascertainment of the leader of the house within two months, the period for which the governor’s rule has initially been imposed.
'We are not in a hurry. There is no target of calling the assembly in two months. The government is working smoothly. The assembly is also there. Only I have assumed powers of chief executive of the province due to disqualification of the chief minister. When I see that a party has a clear majority, I will convene the house,' he told a news conference at the Chief Minister’s secretariat.
Taseer was flanked by some PPP leaders as he launched a fresh salvo against former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif -- on the day PPP allies in the central government were trying to moderate between the warring parties.
The PPP’s very own, Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani, met Shahbaz Sharif in Bahawalpur earlier on Monday. But in Lahore, Taseer was hell-bent on taking his anti-Sharif refrain to a new level: 'The former chief minister had misgoverned the provinces and misused public funds for his personal publicity and for pushing ahead his party’s political agenda,' he declared.
He accused Shahbaz Sharif of using Rs80 million from public funds on his personal publicity in addition to using seven official buildings as his secretariat and declaring three of his family residences as his camp offices, costing public money heavily.
He said the Rs6 billion Punjab Food Subsidy Programme (PFSP) was used to strengthen the PML-N stronghold in some cities and win political support of the PML-Q’s legislators. He said he had found numerous irregularities and anomalies in the implementation of the Sasti Roti project and supply of Atta at subsidized rates to tandoors under the PFSP.
'The state of governance in the province was appalling: the government failed to undertake development works, meet the provincial own tax revenue and launch any mega project in power, education, irrigation, communication and other sectors. The officials were scared because of politically motivated rapid and mass transfers each day that also cost huge amount to the public funds.'
Referring to the PML-N claims that it enjoyed the support of 207 legislators – including 33 members of the PML-Q’s forward block, three of the PML-F, and two of the MMA –, Taseer said: 'You cannot claim to have attained clear-cut majority in the house by horse trading or creating a forward block in another party. If any one votes against his or her party’s policy (during the ascertainment of the leader of the house), he or she will be disqualified. A clear-cut majority can be mustered only by fostering alliance between the two (or more) political parties represented in the assembly.'
Taseer’s remarks were seen by political analysts as being an ominous sign, an indication that the much-condemned governor’s rule in Punjab may be prolonged beyond its original deadline of two months, if the PPP failed to muster the cooperation of the PML-Q to install its own government in the province. Between them the PPP and the PML-Q 194 seats in the Punjab Assembly.
The PML-Q forward block leader Atta Mohammad Maneka had told reporters on Friday he had the support of at least 35 MPAs supporting the PML-N. 'We will vote for the PML-N whenever the house is convened to elect its leader. Nobody can disqualify us,' he said. Some of the 'dissidents' were claimed by the PML-Q to have 'returned' with a vow to abide by the decision of the party leadership.
The PPP claims to be enjoying the support of 250 members, including some belonging to the PML-N. 'We will soon show our strength at a media conference,' the PPP parliamentary party leader in Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz said. He also claimed that his party would install its own government in Punjab, which would be headed by a PPP man as the chief minister.
The only hitch, sources in the PPP say, holding back an announcement by the PML-Q leadership of cooperation with the PPP lay in the PML-Q’s demand for the slot of chief minister for Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s son, Moonis Elahi. But, the sources insist, it was only a matter of time before the PML-Q publicly extended its support to the PPP effort for installing its own government.
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