ISLAMABAD, Feb 28: Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan has advised the government to immediately lift governor’s rule in Punjab and allow legislators to elect a leader of the house.

He said the only way to undo the ‘wrong step’ taken by the federal government was that the majority party should be allowed to form its government in the province.

Speaking at a meeting of the ruling coalition parties’ parliamentary group at the Parliament House before the start of the National Assembly session, Mr Khan, who had opposed the governor’s rule, said: “We must admit that we have taken a wrong decision by imposing governor’s rule, which has caused severe damage to political harmony.”

The ANP chief complained that his party had not been taken into confidence about the moves in Punjab. “Although we are partners in the coalition government, we have not been consulted before taking such drastic steps.”

Mr Khan, who is reported to have initiated a reconciliation process along with Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the JUI-F, another coalition partner, stressed that the ‘fiery situation’ arising out of the Supreme Court verdict and imposition of governor’s rule must be defused by “those who had created this”.

According to sources, lawmakers from Fata expressed reservations about the conduct of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer and called for his removal.

In his reply to lawmakers’ criticism of governor’s rule, Law Minister Farooq Naek said that governor’s rule could be curtailed if the provincial assembly succeeded in electing a new leader.

He denied reports that there were differences between President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani over the move in Punjab. Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim said: “Everything would be made known on the floor of the (lower) house.”

Insiders said that some pro-Zardari lawmakers defended the centre’s intervention in Punjab on the ground that it had become inevitable because of a constitutional vacuum.

Meanwhile, the PML-N’s parliamentary group also held a meeting and chalked out a plan to give a tough time to the government in the National Assembly.

The party decided that it would walk out of the house after a speech by its parliamentary leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and would only listen to Prime Minister Gilani.
Tags: