Punjab PPP threatens sit-in from Tuesday
Waiting on response from Nawaz Sharif on 19-point agenda.
LAHORE:
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) yesterday announced that it would stage a sit-in from Tuesday if the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N’s) leadership fails to respond to the PPP’s 19 points agenda by Monday, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The PPP this past Thursday sent a letter to PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif to intervene in the Punjab government affairs “in the public’s interest”. Raja Riaz, senior minister and PPP parliamentary party leader, told The Express Tribune that the PML-N has not yet implemented the 19-point agenda the PPP had set forth for its coalition partner.
He said continued failure to do so would force PPP’s ministers to stage a sit-in before the Punjab Assembly from 12 pm to 1 pm every day. The party had set February 7 as its deadline and so far had not received a positive response from Sharif, he added.
Riaz said that even though the PPP had given the PML-N’s agenda top priority, the PML-N had not responded in kind. He said that if the PML-N wants to remove the PPP from Punjab government, they could do so.
The main points of the 19-point agenda are that ‘corrupt’ provincial ministers be removed, local government elections be held, action be taken against officials responsible for the failure of the Sasti Roti and Food Stamps schemes and all contractual appointments made on account of political affiliations be terminated. Further, the agenda presses for mandatory monthly cabinet meetings, the empowerment of provincial ministers, distribution of development funds among coalition partners according to the agreed formula and the appointments of the Zakat and Market committee members to be made on merit and in a transparent fashion.
The PPP has also asked for a strong strategy to overcome the current financial crisis, action against officials who have unsavoury reputations, transparency in flood relief work, crime rate to be brought down, abolition of task forces, development funds to be given to female legislators and minimum wage should be brought up to Rs7,000.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that PPP leaders should first lodge a protest with their own leadership. Riaz’s statements, he said, showed that the PPP’s central leadershop had not even responded to his demands. Instead of giving deadlines to the PML-N, they should expend energy convincing their higher ups to its demands, he added. Sanaullah said the PPP’s central leadership never took provincial leaders’ suggestions seriously.
PML-N’s Senator Pervaiz Rashid said that Riaz was behaving like a clown and his reference to the letter sent to Sharif was ridiculous. Rashid said that before sending off this letter, Riaz should have gotten it approved from President Asif Ali Zardari.
PPP’s ministers should remove the flags from their vehicles before commencing their sit-in, Rashid said. He said that PPP’s ministers were welcome to go ahead with their sit-in but should also submit their resignations from the Punjab cabinet beforehand.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 7th, 2011.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) yesterday announced that it would stage a sit-in from Tuesday if the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N’s) leadership fails to respond to the PPP’s 19 points agenda by Monday, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The PPP this past Thursday sent a letter to PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif to intervene in the Punjab government affairs “in the public’s interest”. Raja Riaz, senior minister and PPP parliamentary party leader, told The Express Tribune that the PML-N has not yet implemented the 19-point agenda the PPP had set forth for its coalition partner.
He said continued failure to do so would force PPP’s ministers to stage a sit-in before the Punjab Assembly from 12 pm to 1 pm every day. The party had set February 7 as its deadline and so far had not received a positive response from Sharif, he added.
Riaz said that even though the PPP had given the PML-N’s agenda top priority, the PML-N had not responded in kind. He said that if the PML-N wants to remove the PPP from Punjab government, they could do so.
The main points of the 19-point agenda are that ‘corrupt’ provincial ministers be removed, local government elections be held, action be taken against officials responsible for the failure of the Sasti Roti and Food Stamps schemes and all contractual appointments made on account of political affiliations be terminated. Further, the agenda presses for mandatory monthly cabinet meetings, the empowerment of provincial ministers, distribution of development funds among coalition partners according to the agreed formula and the appointments of the Zakat and Market committee members to be made on merit and in a transparent fashion.
The PPP has also asked for a strong strategy to overcome the current financial crisis, action against officials who have unsavoury reputations, transparency in flood relief work, crime rate to be brought down, abolition of task forces, development funds to be given to female legislators and minimum wage should be brought up to Rs7,000.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that PPP leaders should first lodge a protest with their own leadership. Riaz’s statements, he said, showed that the PPP’s central leadershop had not even responded to his demands. Instead of giving deadlines to the PML-N, they should expend energy convincing their higher ups to its demands, he added. Sanaullah said the PPP’s central leadership never took provincial leaders’ suggestions seriously.
PML-N’s Senator Pervaiz Rashid said that Riaz was behaving like a clown and his reference to the letter sent to Sharif was ridiculous. Rashid said that before sending off this letter, Riaz should have gotten it approved from President Asif Ali Zardari.
PPP’s ministers should remove the flags from their vehicles before commencing their sit-in, Rashid said. He said that PPP’s ministers were welcome to go ahead with their sit-in but should also submit their resignations from the Punjab cabinet beforehand.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 7th, 2011.