LAHORE: Three federal ministers, who were in the city on Saturday, criticised PML-N’s decision to remove PPP ministers from the Punjab cabinet but said that it was premature to comment on when a vote of confidence will be called against the chief minister.
Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, the federal information minister, told reporters said that Nawaz Sharif had disappointed the people of Pakistan “at a time when unity was needed the most”. When asked what the repercussions of the PML-N’s decision could be, she said, “only time will tell”. But the minister dismissed any chance of mid-term elections, “If the Punjab government but was unable to hold local government elections for two years, how can it demand a mid-term election?”
She said the recent by-elections should be an eye opener for the PML-N. “In all by-polls, PML-N candidates and the ones they supported lost their seats,” she added. Criticize
Criticising Nawaz Sharif she said that during the Friday press conference he had talked against PPP’s policies, “but he could not even present a road map or suggest a solution to the problems which he pointed out in his reform agenda.”
She stuck to the party stance of continuing politics of reconciliation and avoiding any confrontation.
Mian Manzoor Ahmed Watto, the federal minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, who held a press conference at his residence, reminded the PML-N and the public of “the countless sacrifices of PPP. “After the removal of PPP from the Punjab government, the PML-N is now solely responsible for the unemployment, adverse law and order situation and inflation,” he said. “Now the PPP can ask the people to stand up against the inhuman policies of the PML-N in the province,” he warned. He also praised the president and the prime minister for trying to solve problems in consultation with other parties. “For this purpose alone, the prime minister did not hesitate from meeting Mian Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif at Raiwind,” Wattoo said.
Meanwhile, Federal Law Minister Babar Awan addressing party workers said that even if the PML-N succeeded in getting a vote of confidence from members of the Unification Bloc, they’ll only be greeted with slogans of lota (turncoats) in the Punjab Assembly. He assured the PML-Q of PPP’s support if it decided to file a reference against the dissidents.
Awan said that he could not understand why Nawaz Sharif was acting in haste. He also expressed confidence that the PPP would win the Senate election in March and that President Asif Ali Zardari would be elected for another term. “Nawaz Sharif has to wait until after that before thinking about taking power,” Awan assured worked up PPP workers.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2011.
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