LAHORE, March 2: Punjab Governor Salman Taseer broke his silence on Monday, six days after imposition of governor’s rule in the province, to make the country’s already murky political scene murkier.

He said he would call the provincial assembly session for electing a new leader of the house once he was satisfied that one or the other party had attained a clear-cut majority to form government.

Mr Taseer, who is acting as the chief executive of the province, parried a question whether he intended to convene the session within two months -- the period for which governor’s rule has initially been imposed.

“We are not in a hurry. There is no target of calling the assembly in two months. The government is working smoothly. The assembly is also there. Only I have assumed powers of chief executive of the province due to disqualification of the chief minister. When I see that a party has a clear majority, I will convene the house,” he told a news conference at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat.

Mr Taseer, flanked by some PPP leaders, launched the fresh salvo against former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif at a time when PPP allies at the centre were trying to mediate between the warring parties.

Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani met Shahbaz Sharif in Bahawalpur earlier on Monday. But in Lahore, Mr Taseer was hell-bent on taking his anti-Sharif refrain to a new level: “The former chief minister has misgoverned the province and misused public funds for his personal publicity and for pushing ahead his party’s political agenda,” he alleged.

He accused Shahbaz Sharif of spending Rs80 million from public funds on his own publicity and using seven official buildings as his secretariat and declaring three of his family residences as camp offices.

He said the Rs6 billion Punjab Food Subsidy Programme (PFSP) had been used to strengthen PML-N stronghold in some cities and win political support of PML-Q’s legislators. He claimed that he had found numerous irregularities and anomalies in the ‘sasti roti’ project and supply of subsidised atta to tandoors under the PFSP.

“The state of governance in the province is appalling. The government failed to undertake development works, meet tax revenue target and launch any mega project in power, education, irrigation, communication and other sectors. The politically-motivated rapid and mass transfers also cost huge amount to the public fund.”

Referring to PML-N’s claim that it enjoyed the support of 207 legislators, including 33 members of the PML-Q’s forward bloc, three of the PML-F, and two of the MMA, Mr Taseer said: “You cannot claim to have attained clear-cut majority in the house by horse trading or creating a forward bloc in another party. If anyone votes against his party’s policy (during the ascertainment of the leader of the house), he will be disqualified. A clear-cut majority can be mustered only by fostering alliance between two (or more) political parties represented in the assembly.”
Tags: