Bad governance: Punjab govt has failed on all counts, says Rasheed

Tehreek-i-Insaf issues white paper, lambasts govt performance.

LAHORE:

Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed said on Friday the government had failed to deliver and that it needed to set its priorities right.

Speaking at a press conference, Rasheed issued a white paper criticising the government’s performance over the last two years.

He accused Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif of ignoring the assembly and it’s members saying that he made key decisions at his Raiwind and Model Town residences.

Citing last year’s unrest in Model Town, Youhannabd riots, the Wagha Border attack, the Shadbagh fire and the recent killing of two lawyers in Daska, Rasheed said the government had lost its credibility. “These incidents are a slap in the face of the government. People across the province feel insecure and ignored because of bad governance,” he said.

The opposition leader also criticised police. He said instead of protecting lives and properties many in the force resorted to criminal activities. He said that despite Rs80 billion being spent on police annually, the crime rate had gone up in the province.

Rasheed said nearly 200,000 incidents of crime happened monthly. He said in many instances police avoided registering FIRs to show a lower crime rate. He said FIRs were registered in 25 per cent of all complaints received by police. He said police did not register 22 per cent of the kidnapping cases.

He said the number of fake police encounters across the province had risen by 10 per cent. Crime against women had increased by 19 per cent. He said more than 50 per cent of criminals were set free for lack of evidence. He said there had been an increase in incidents of kidnapping and sectarian killing.

Rasheed criticised the government for not making public Justice Baqir Ali Najfi’s report about Model Town riots. Instead, he said, the government had formed a joint investigation team to investigate the violence. He said Rana Sanaulllah who had recently been made a minister once again should have refused to take the oath of office.

“All segments of society, including the blind, the mute, farmers, doctors, nurses and teachers, have taken to streets against the government’s performance,” he said.

Rasheed said the government had failed to provide relief to farmers. He said many sugarcane growers had not been paid for their crop.

Rasheed said the provincial government’s debt had gone up from Rs452 billion to Rs580 billion after it obtained another $850 million loan recently.

He slammed the government for failing to overcome load shedding of electricity. He said load shedding for up to 16 hours a day was the norm in many districts.

He said progress could not be made until the government focused on peace, health, education and human development. “The common man is suffering but the government is busy working on metro buses,” he said.

Rasheed demanded that the chief minister attend assembly sessions and stop making key decisions at his Raiwind “palace”.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2015.