Governor's criticism sparks PML-N fury
Governor Punjab, Sardar Saleem Haider Khan. PHOTO: FILE
Sardar Saleem Haider Khan, the PPP appointed ceremonial head of Punjab, on Thursday criticized the PML-N led federal and Punjab governments as well as the PTIlatter for its recent protest march in Islamabad and the former for their alleged mishandling of the same.
The criticism, however, did not go down well with the PML-N, whose provincial spokesperson advised the governor to stay within his constitutional limits and to teach a lesson in good governance to the PPP governments in Sindh and Balochistan provinces.
Talking to some senior journalists in Lahore on Thursday, Sardar Saleem Haider Khan said everything that happened in Islamabad between November 24 and November 26 was wrong.
According to Khan, the decision on part of K-P Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur to use provincial resources for the PTI's march on Islamabad was a wrong one.
"However, it was also a failure on the part of the Punjab provincial government that it could not stop the PTI's caravans from entering the province from the K-P province," he added. "Everything that happened in Islamabad later was wrong," he added.
He said PTI leadership has always taken workers to Islamabad and then left them in the lurch. He claimed that if PTI workers had reached D-Chowk in the capital in large numbers, the situation could have worsened significantly.
He said the federal government's strategy to resolve the matter was also not appropriate.
"Shutting down the entire country by placing containers everywhere was another failed strategy. The federal cabinet also did not address the situation in the way it should have. This was a case of mismanagement by the government, which led to the country being shut down for days," he said.
Responding to the statement, the Punjab government spokesperson Azma Bukhari advised the governor to join the PTI "if he is really so concerned about them".
According to Bukhari, it was due to the successful strategy of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz that PTI supporters in the province did not join the protest rally.