Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif turned up at a protest against loadshedding on Madre Millat Road in Green Town here on Tuesday and blamed President Asif Zardari for lengthy power outages in the Punjab.
Addressing hundreds of protesters, the chief minister said that the federal government had left the citizens of the Punjab no choice but to come out onto the streets after depriving them of electricity for 18 hours a day.
He said that 700 megawatts of electricity that was rightly the Punjab’s share was being rerouted to other provinces. He appealed to the protesters to stay peaceful and not damage property.
PML-Nawaz MNA Naseer Bhutta said that the chief minister had made an unplanned appearance at the protest.
The MNA said that he had been scheduled to address the protest, but the chief minister had not been expected.
Bhutta said that the massive electricity shortage had led to an increase in crime while damaging industry and agriculture. He said that President Zardari was to blame for the shortage and he must call early elections to prevent the country from sliding into anarchy. He said that the president was pursuing personal interests rather than that of the masses.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 1st, 2012.
COMMENTS (18)
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All these people are part of crippled state which is taking its last breaths in terms of electricity, inflation insecurity corruption and much more....state apparatus has badly failed and finally masses has come to the roads to demand their rights....its important to have a genuine party who can lead them in positive direction....all actors of existing system cannot lead them because system within itself has lost the ability of improvement....So PMLN or PTI these just can be face changes which wont work now.....People want their rights now....You cannot silence them by false media propaganda that Strike is a bad thing or by police and lastly Army....All will vanish in ashes with people power....Time is approaching.....HUM DEKHAIN GEY JAB TAAJ UCHALAY JAYEN GEY:) Shahbaz sharif is same puppet of capitalistic system so how can they bring change????Its just a drama to satisfy peoples emotion which they cant now:)
I think shahbaz sharif can handle this problem on his next tenure
The Punjab government is backing protests against the government under the cover of the energy crisis, which works not only against democracy but also against the country. The Punjab police have become a silent spectator and the provincial rulers and administration is not only a part of the protest but they are responsible for instigating people. The party leader, Mian Nawaz Sharif has reinforced the policy of his brother by publicly endorsing it, which means that prominent leaders will take to the streets in the coming days and take part in more vandalism in their own constituencies. The government in Punjab did not produce even a single unit of electricity; rather, they have squeezed the IPPs through false allegations of corruption, and therefore the (IPPs) had to stop expansion and reduce capacity of electricity generation.
I suppose if India can fix their problems in two days than Pakistan will solve theirs within 24 hours ! !!
@xiaahmad: Very often one can judge a person that either he is smart or not by his questions. If we apply on your question the result is very clear, 18 amendment got nothing to do with it smart person, it is stealing of 700 mw from Punjab, he is claming that. Zer should stop stealing.
Allah bless Shehbaz Sharif.
Punjab should realize they were sold for the sake of 3rd term of Premiership.
Some 1 should question him after 18th amendment how much electricity punjab gov has produced?
@Nasir Khan: How is the Punjab govnt equally responsible for the loadshedding? Our national power policy, WAPDA and all power generation development funds are governed by the federal government. Just because you dont like the Sharifs or their party doesnt mean you can make random statements without any evidence or logic.
The Federal Government should be thankful to the CM Punjab who stops the protesters by addressing them and stop them from severe agitation and saving the Federal Government from the wrath of public.
loadshedding problem can not be solved just by addressing protesters. this problem can only be solved by leading protesters to Islamabad because people responsible of loadshedding are sitting there.
Compared to other parties at least someone is standing for the rights of people be it an election gimmick
This is nothing more than shoring up lost votes. It is political gimmickry to fool public. Punjab Government is equally responsible for the power crises. Those who are suppose to provide public amenities are protesting shows inability to rule.
The Central government is trying to punish the Punjab and make it unstable but I am sure that the CM of Punjab will not allow Punjab from continue to develop.