LAHORE, June 27: Punjab PML-N president Zulfikar Khosa has called for an accountability of those who misused public funds. However, he does not say the process should essentially be completed before the local elections. At a news conference here on Monday, he said accountability should not be confined to the local government institutions. Instead, he said, all provincial and federal functionaries who misspent taxpayers’ money should be brought to justice.

Those who wasted public funds on unnecessary foreign visits or on the purchase of luxury vehicles should be made to face the music, he said.

Mr Khosa said the audit of public funds was a constitutional requirement, but this was the first time that those running the district governments under the new system had been given a free hand. The government’s failure to audit the accounts of these institutions amounted to violation of the Constitution, he said.

Mr Khosa said the government would certainly try to keep the situation about the local polls uncertain, but the opposition would not be misled. He said his party was fully prepared to take part in the elections whenever they were held.

In his opinion, party-based local polls were preferable compared to the non-party polls. In case of partyless elections, the PML-N-backed candidates would contest from the ‘Sharif Qiadat’ platform.

Applications for various offices had already been received. Still, he said, the date for applications had been extended to June 30.

He said his party would make adjustments with the ARD components, the MMA and other democratic forces. He said at no cost would his party make any adjustment at any level with the ruling party.

Also present on the occasion were Zaeem Qadri, Pervaiz Malik, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Khwaja Ahmad Hasan and Haji Hanif.