Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif lashed out at the federal government for what he referred to as Islamabad’s ‘discriminatory’ attitude towards Punjab – particularly in terms of energy supplies to the province – and made non-specific threats about the people of Punjab “knowing how to take their own rights.”
The chief minister referred to the ongoing fuel shortage in Punjab as the “petrol bomb” which he accused the federal government of being responsible for. While the fuel shortage has affected consumers and businesses throughout the country, the problem is most acute in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, while Sindh, the political heartland for the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), has seen fewer effects.
“The people of Punjab have a national thinking and vote for political parties without any discrimination. But despite this, a totally unjust attitude to the people of Punjab is highly unfair,” said Sharif.
Punjab’s complaints on energy supplies go beyond just the recent petrol shortage. The province has complained bitterly about having to bear the brunt of the nationwide shortage of natural gas, which has resulted in heavy manufacturing in Punjab grinding to a halt for several days a week due to a suspension of gas supplies.
Over 70% of the nation’s natural gas and 50% of its oil are produced in Sindh. Constitutionally, the province that produces natural gas is entitled to the right of first use. Punjab has asked for this formula to be changed to reflect the province’s greater needs for natural gas.
Yet the chief minister’s speech appears to be about more than just trying to solve the province’s energy crisis. Sharif’s outburst against the PPP-led federal government was a response to a speech by Abdul Qadir Gilani – a PPP member of the Punjab Assembly and Prime Miniser Yousaf Raza Gilani’s son – that demanded a new province be created in southern Punjab.
Sources inside Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) told The Express Tribune that the chief minister is now going to begin playing the “Punjab card” – subtle appeals to Punjabi nationalism, often used by the PML-N as part of their election strategy. PML-N members say they are responding to what they feel is the use of the “Sindh card” by the PPP.
That Sharif’s opening salvo comes in response to a member of the Gilani family is somewhat ironic: the prime minister and the Punjab chief minister are reportedly close personal friends. Sources say the younger Gilani often addresses Sharif as “uncle”, a reflection of the close ties between the two families.
The relationship between Sharif and Gilani has been useful in the past in relieving tensions between Lahore and Islamabad. At the height of the gas crisis in Punjab this past winter, when Sharif had threatened to launch a “long march” on Islamabad to protest the rationing, the prime minister quickly convened a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) and was able to address most of Sharif’s concerns. The CCI is the primary body that deals with disputes involving the provinces and the federal government.
However, the expulsion of the PPP from the Punjab government by the PML-N, coupled with the PPP’s decision to back a province in the Seraiki belt in southern Punjab, may have caused both sides to have become estranged. Abdul Qadir Gilani spoke out vehemently against the PML-N when the PPP ministers were kicked out of the Punjab cabinet by Sharif. The Gilanis are Seraikis from southern Punjab.
Nonetheless, Sharif made it a point to not publicly respond to Gilani’s tirade within the Punjab Assembly and only spoke out after being asked by reporters during a visit to a housing scheme in Lahore.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 20th, 2011.
COMMENTS (12)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ