LAHORE: Welcoming the federal government’s decision to appoint Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz on Friday hoped that this gesture will lead to pro-poor legislation and relief for the common man.

Talking to the media outside the Punjab Assembly, Hamza said the first 100 days had been wasted because of the government’s stubbornness to appoint the PAC head. “Hopefully, the next 100 days will be spent on legislation,” he added.

He also demanded production orders for MPA Khwaja Salman Rafique, saying that the other three provincial assemblies have enacted rules for such orders and it was time for the Punjab Assembly to adopt them too.

Talking about his offloading from a Qatar-bound flight, he said it was not new for him. “I spent six months in jail during Benazir Bhutto’s regime. Pervez Musharraf did not allow me to leave Lahore for years. Now, when I go to the airport, I am told that I cannot fly abroad because of ‘orders’. This is all part of the game. But, I pray for Niazi sahib (Prime Minister Imran Khan) that God free him from jealousy and hate. I am being treated like a terrorist. The prime minister, besides mistreating opposition members, should also look at the kind of people sitting around him,” Hamza said.

He also lamented that the houses of the poor were being razed to the ground whereas palatial palaces at Banigala were being regularised. “It is a joke how kiosks of small sellers are being bulldozed and carts confiscated in Karachi,” the opposition leader claimed.

Offering his cooperation, he said that in the current circumstances of the country, confrontation would not benefit anyone. “Let’s cooperate for the betterment of the poor and improve governance in the country. The poor need relief and it is our duty to do everything to provide it,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2018