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| July 03, 2006 | Monday | Jumadi-ul-Sani 6, 1427 |
PML, PPP to contest one-to-one: Pervaiz
LAHORE, July 2: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi said on Sunday by signing the Charter of Democracy, Nawaz Sharif had dumped his party, making it easier for the ruling party to take the PPP one-on-one in the next general elections.
He was speaking at his secretariat where an important PML-N activist and the Sialkot tehsil nazim, Imtiazuddin Dar, joined the ruling PML along with his team of union nazims, naib nazims and councillors.
National Assembly speaker Amir Husain, federal and provincial ministers, MNAs and MPAs belonging to Sialkot and its nazim, Akmal Cheema, were also present on the occasion.
The chief minister, who is also the Punjab PML president, appointed Imtiazuddin Dar provincial vice-president of the party.
The chief minister said by signing the Charter of Democracy, Nawaz had practically joined the PPP and merged his party into it. He had lost his identity and would from now onwards operate through Ms Benazir Bhutto.
“We are hoping to face only the PPP in the next elections, and Nawaz has, by joining it, made it much easier for our one-on-one contest with it,” said the chief minister.
He said there was no political or moral justification for a real Muslim League to ever join hands with the PPP because it never did anything good for the country or the people. That was why the Leaguers always stood united to counter the PPP at all levels. “A supporter of the PPP can never be a real Leaguer,” he said.
The chief minister said by joining hands with Ms Bhutto without consulting his partymen, Nawaz had dumped his party.
He said the ruling PML would grow stronger as the right-minded people were joining it in large numbers.
The steps taken by President Musharraf had gradually started giving fruits. The PML too did a lot for the country and its people, giving unprecedented freedom to the press. Its focus was on strengthening institutions and, therefore, it empowered assemblies and different fora like the lawyers’ bodies. “This is our performance, and you can compare it with that of any past government,” he said.
The chief minister said unlike the past regimes, the present government did a lot for the betterment of Sialkot, initiating Rs5 billion development projects there. It was starting construction of the 100km Sialkot-Lahore motorway which would also link Wazirabad, Gujranwala, Narowal and adjoining areas to each other. One would reach Lahore from Sialkot in just 50 minutes, he said.
He said the government was also establishing industrial estates and two big universities in and around Sialkot.
The chief minister said he did realise the importance of coming up to the expectations of the people which they attached to their local leaders. “We will strengthen you in your local constituencies, and you will never feel any shortage of development funds,” he told Mr Dar.
He said he knew that the tehsil nazim and his team members had a direct contact with the people at the grassroots level and, therefore, the government would support them for ultimately making the PML stronger.
The chief minister said the people must forget differences arose between them during the local elections, and now make decisions about the welfare of their areas. “I congratulate you for joining the PML for the welfare of your people and not for your own betterment.”
The NA speaker, congratulating Mr Dar for joining the ruling party, said the PML had proved that it respected the people and that was why they were joining it. “We will abide by the party decisions about its tickets for the general elections,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Dar said he was joining the ruling party because of the neglect of workers by the PML-N leadership and the “selfish” attitude of its Sialkot MNA, Khwaja Asif, a close aide of Nawaz Sharif. He accused Asif of monopolising the party and creating hurdles for him.
He said he was a PML-N activist, but the party pitched its candidate against him in the local elections.
The Sialkot district nazim also spoke on the occasion.
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