Crime in Punjab has gone up while Shahbaz holds tent-office: Rehman Malik

Says public money wasted in Shahbaz's publicity stunts, inquiry into Nawaz's "qarz utaro mulk sunwaro" scheme started.

ISLAMABAD: Noting that the crime rate in Punjab has increased manifold during the past few days, Advisor to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik said that that the situation had worsened especially after the Punjab Chief Minister set up tent offices of the provincial government at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore.

Talking to media persons outside the Parliament House on Thursday, Malik said a factsheet against the Sharifs would be made public on Friday and the crime data of all the provinces would be shared with media within a few days.

He said that the Punjab government, by setting up tent offices had staged a drama; that the Sharifs wanted to impersonate the Bhuttos but they were bound to fail.

"By establishing offices in tents, the Sharifs are eying commission from the tent makers," he alleged.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had shifted from his regular offices to a tent setting at the Minar-e-Pakistan to protest the failed government promise of equitable country wide loadshedding.

Malik reminded Shabaz to concentrate on good governance and avoid holding protest demonstrations, which also involve his staff. The former Interior Minister alleged that millions of rupees from the public exchequer are being wasted on Shahbaz Sharif’s personal publicity.

Suggesting the protest against loadshedding by the Punjab government was hippocrytic, the former interior minister said that the Punjab government had not yet added even a single unit of electricity to the grid despite great potential existing in Punjab. He said the Punjab government had squandered billions of rupees in pursuance of futile schemes.

He said that he had ordered an inquiry into the corruption of `Qaraz Utaro Mulk Sunwaro' (Pay off the debt, improve the country) scheme was launched by Nawaz Sharif during his last government.

Commenting on the continued protest of PML-N members in the Parliament, he said they should behave like decent parliamentarians.