LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party Information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira has said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif should accept the responsibility for the Model Town killings and resign.

“The Model Town incident was not an accident. After the killing of 14 people and bullet injuries to 100 others, Punjab chief minister should accept the responsibility and resign. If he is absolved of charges in the probe by the joint investigation team he may reassume the charge,” he said while talking to journalists here on Saturday.

“If the rigging allegations are proved in the judicial commission’s investigation then the country can go for mid-term polls,” he added.

Flanked by Chaudhry Manzoor and Usman Salim Malik, Mr Kaira said Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri were not losers as their protest was the biggest in the country’s history. He said the committees from the government side holding talks with protesting parties were not given powers. To a question about the role of judiciary in the current crisis, he said the tribunals should have decided the PTI’s election pleas within 120 days.

“The superior courts should have taken notice of the delay by the tribunals in deciding such pleas,” he said.

Kaira further said the PPP was standing by the PML-N government only because of democracy. “Even the weakest democracy is better than dictatorship,” he said, ruling out the chances of martial law.

Kaira said the PPP was the only party which always struggled for democracy in the country.

“Nawaz Sharif went to the Supreme Court in memo case which was meant to implicate Asif Ali Zardari and Shahbaz Sharif practically led a civil disobedience move against the centre in the previous PPP government by leading anti-loadshedding protests, burning the copies of the electricity bills and setting up a tent office at the Minar-i-Pakistan lawns but the PPP is supporting the present set up only for the sake of democracy,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2014