LAHORE: Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar says making house in order by overcoming disconnect among the leaders, parliamentarians and workers besides controlling inflation through better management can serve as a recipe for the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) to win the next general election.

The governor said the infighting within the party from top to bottom should be controlled and all should be united as a family to serve the people with delivery of all necessities, including clean drinking water, environment and proper waste management.

Speaking to the media persons at the Governor House on Thursday, Mr Sarwar said delivery of services only could attract the people as well as strong candidates towards the party to contest the next election.

“In the first election, the people give votes to a party on the basis of manifesto, campaign and promises but the next election solely depends on the performance and service delivery,” he said and regretted that many good things done by this government were never appropriately projected.

Stresses ending disconnect between leaders and workers; rejects rumours of presidential system

Acknowledging that there is no tradition of politicians sticking to one party in thick and thin, the governor said politicians were attracted to such a party as had roots among people at grassroots.

Answering a question about rumours about the presidential system of governance in the country, he outrightly rejected it, asserting that there was no space of the presidential system as the democratic system was strong enough in the country.

“The presidential system is impossible without taking all parties into confidence and bringing them on one page, which is next to impossible.”

Mr Sarwar said both the PML-N and PPP had completed their tenures and now it was PTI’s democratic right to complete its tenure.

“The government has no threat from the opposition and the elections will be held in the country in 2023 as per schedule,” he asserted.

He said he had plans to contest the next general election and added that there were three precedents where governors were allowed to contest election.

“The governorship does not fall in the domain of services of Pakistan,” the governor quoted a Peshawar High Court decision. He left it to the party to decide from where he would contest the election.

The governor said 1,500 projects of water filtration plants under the Punjab Aab-e-Pak Authority would soon be completed while various filtration plants would be inaugurated in Lahore on Sunday. He explained that the water filtration plants were installed without any political differentiation and transparency in the projects had been ensured as international organistaions, including Unicef, were collaborating in the mission to provide clean drinking water to the people.

Talking about his recent visit to Europe, Mr Sarwar said he fought the case of Pakistan during his visit as he met more than 120 members of parliament (MPs) to get the extension of GSP Plus status for Pakistan.

“I have discussed the Afghanistan and Kashmir issues during my visit to Europe and UK and also highlighted the peace efforts of Pakistan,” he said and claimed that the whole world was appreciating the role of Pakistan in the Afghan peace process.

“It is the reality that peace in the whole world will not be possible without achieving peace in Afghanistan and, therefore, the whole world must play its role in it,” he said.

Referring to the fifth wave of the Covid-19, the governor said everyone should adopt precautionary measures to avoid the Omicron.

Stating that it was our national responsibility to wear the face mask to stay safe from the deadly virus, Mr Sarwar said his team was ready once again to provide services in the new wave as it did earlier through Telemedicine under the banner of Punjab Development Network.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2022