LAHORE, Dec 31: Chaudhry Zaheeruddin Khan, who is opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly, has said the year 2008 had proved to be the year of crises owing to a power tussle between component parties of the coalition government and its maladministration.

In a fact sheet on the performance of the coalition government in the province released here on Wednesday, Zaheer said the year 2008 had proved to be a year of shortages of flour, gas, power and petrol owing to a political instability in the province. It was for the first time in the history of the country that 80 per cent of petrol pumps had gone dry.

He said administrative machinery had become paralysed owing to power tussle within the ruling coalition. Neither the provincial cabinet had been completed nor standing committees constituted in the Punjab Assembly as a result. Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP were also being governed by coalition governments, but there was no such a crippling power tussle like the one being seen in Punjab.

He said the Punjab government had negated the supremacy of democracy by making district nazims subservient to BS-20 and BS-22 bureaucrats by restoring commissioners through the promulgation of Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Act, 2008. The district governments were being maligned through an unlawful audit conducted in violation of the Lahore High Court directives, and Rs7 million had been squandered on the media campaign for character assassination of district nazims during the last week of the year.

He said the coalition government had not only set a bad example by launching a tussle over the appointment of the provincial ombudsman, but also dismissed several public prosecutors unlawfully to sabotage smooth functioning of the system of justice.

The provincial administration continued to be sabotaged time and again owing to large-scale transfers of officers throughout the year. Not only the prices of essential commodities doubled during 2008, the law and order also remained out of control. Eight to 10 people committed suicide daily due to unemployment.

He said the Punjab government not only imposed a ban on recruitments, but also banned employment on daily wages on the directives of the chief minister. A large number of contract employees were also thrown out of job. The gimmick of provision of roti at Rs2 failed despite waste of Rs10 to 15 on every roti. The DAP fertilizer freely available for Rs1,800 per bag during the tenure of PML-Q government in 2007 was sold for Rs6,000 in the black-market during 2008.

He said farmers suffered not only owing to shortage of fertilizer, but they also suffered from water shortage owing to the closure of River Chenab by India.

The coalition government failed to launch any mega development project on the one hand and scrapped projects like Lahore-Sialkot Motorway started by the PML-Q government on the other. An investment of Rs44 billion was expected on the project which also envisaged establishment of two new universities.