ISLAMABAD, July 25: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday reiterated his government’s resolve to hold the local government elections in a free, fair and transparent manner and said foreign observers would be welcomed and facilitated to monitor the polls.
Speaking at a gathering of PML leaders and workers at the public complaint bureau (PCB) set up at the party secretariat here, he said the government would extend facilities to local and foreign observers for monitoring the LB elections.
The prime minister refuted an impression that the ongoing crackdown on extremists was directed against religious schools, and said that it was a step to weed out the menace of extremism being perpetuated by some outlawed organizations. Mr Aziz said the government recognized the services being rendered by madressahs which imparted free religious and worldly knowledge to their students.
He said Islam was a religion of peace, tranquillity and brotherhood and it had no room for terrorism, extremism and sectarianism. Religious knowledge played a vital role in character building of a society, he added. About the LB election process, Mr Aziz asserted that people had got an opportunity to elect their representatives in an independent manner without any external pressure. He appealed to voters to elect people known for their credibility, competence, commitment and integrity.
Unveiling his government’s priorities, Mr Aziz said supply of clean drinking water to every household would be ensured by 2007. While appreciating the performance of the complaint bureau, the prime minister agreed with a proposal to appoint coordinators for the bureau at the district level.
Lauding the role of the bureau in addressing problems of the masses, he said it was the duty of the ruling party to ensure easy and free access to justice to the common people.
He said the cell was inaugurated by him some five months ago and it had made tremendous progress.
Complaint bureau chief Imtiaz Ranjha informed the prime minister that during the five months, the bureau had received 1,217 complaints, of which 692 were forwarded to the authorities concerned for action, 191 were returned for verification and 334 were rejected. He said 11 cases were pending.
He also spoke about cases in which the bureau helped people in getting justice. People could contact the bureau through telephone, fax, e-mail or by post, he said.
Mr Ranjha drew the prime minister’s attention to the alleged apathy of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) viz a viz the bureau’s suggestions/ inquiries regarding demolition of houses of poor villagers of Saidpur.
He requested the prime minister to intervene and direct the CDA to respond to the bureau’s letters as the matter involved hundreds of poor villagers.
PML secretary-general Mushahid Hussain said on the occasion the purpose of the bureau was to act as a bridge between the public and the government.
Later, the prime minister listened to complaints of some individuals who had been invited to register their grievances.
