LAHORE – Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said on Monday that calling the army for civilian matters proved the failure of the Shahbaz Sharif government.
Speaking at a reception hosted in his honour by PML-Q Parliamentary Leader in the Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Zaheeruddin, Elahi alleged that Shahbaz Sharif alone was responsible for the worst-ever administrative and financial crisis in the province.
He regretted that the doctors were languishing in jails and the patients were dying because of the wrong policies of the Punjab government. “On the other hand, the ‘Khadam-e-A’ala’ spends one hour in his tent office and the nights in Murree,” he remarked.
The deputy prime minister said that the present rulers of Punjab had allocated Rs19 billion for power generation in the provincial budget, but not a single penny was being spent to produce electricity. “Under the formula presented by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the energy issue could be addressed within days with the provinces making their contribution,” he viewed.
Elahi further said the PML-Q had asked the president and the prime minister to address the issues of energy shortage and unrest in Balochistan before the upcoming general elections, and that they had assured cooperation in this regard.
The deputy prime minister blamed Shahbaz Sharif for closing down all mega public welfare projects, including the mass transit rail project, initiated by the PML-Q government. “Most part of Ring Road was completed during my tenure,” he claimed, adding that the bridges they are claiming to complete in record period are collapsing in record period too.
Elahi said the present rulers had admitted that, when they came to power, Punjab had a surplus of Rs1.5 billion, but now the province was under a heavy debt of Rs430 billion, adding that all sectors including health and education were in a miserable condition.
“Did the doctors come on roads even for a single day during my five-year tenure as the chief minister?” he asked.
He said the present rulers of the province had neither vision nor capability and potential. “In their first tenure, they had called the Army for Wapda and schools, and now for hospitals. The biggest failure of a provincial government is to call the army for help in civilian matters,” he maintained.
The deputy prime minister said the law and order situation in the province had deteriorated to such an extent that the help of army was sought for security in jails. “There is no protection for the life, honour and property of the people in the province,” e added.