Shahbaz responsible for worst-ever administrative crisis

DAILY TIMES

Shahbaz Sharif alone is responsible for the worst-ever administrative and financial crises in the history of Punjab, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) senior central leader and Deputy Prime Minister Pervaiz Elahi said on Monday. Talking to the media after attending a reception hosted in his honour by Chaudhry Zaheeruddin Khan, Elahi said that inviting army doctors to hospitals showed that the Shahbaz government had failed to deliver. He said that due to the stubborn attitude of the Punjab government, patients were dying for lack of treatment and the doctors were put behind the bars. He said the Punjab rulers had allocated Rs 19 billion for power generation in the new budget but not a single penny had been spent to produce electricity. He reiterated that under the formula presented by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, energy crisis could be resolved within days, with provinces making their contributions. Elahi said that the PML-Q had stressed upon the president and the prime minister to resolve the energy crisis and the Balochistan issue ahead of the elections, and they were taking necessary steps in this regard. He said that mega projects of public welfare started by the PML-Q government, including the Lahore Rail Service, were shut down in political revenge by Shahbaz Sharif. He said that most part of the Ring Road was completed during his tenure, adding that the bridges they were claiming to complete in record period of time were collapsing in record time. He said that the Punjab government had admitted that it had a surplus amount of Rs 1.5 billion when the regained power, but the province was now under a heavy debt of Rs 430 billion. He said that all sectors, including health and education, were in a miserable condition. He said the doctors were on roads and hospitals deserted, while schools were without basic facilities. He said that the PML-N neither had a vision nor the capability and potential, as during its first tenure, the current rulers had called in the army to run WAPDA and schools, and now for hospitals. He maintained that the biggest failure of a provincial government was to call the army for help in civilian matters. He said that law and order in the province had deteriorated to such an extent that the army was being sought for security of jails. He said that owing to lack of positive thinking and attitude for solving problems, the situation had worsened to the extent that no action was taken until a body was lying outside the office of the CM. He said that due to the wrong policies of the Shahbaz Sharif, no foreign investor was ready to invest in the province and even the investors who had been bringing in billions of dollars during the PML-Q’s tenure had gone back. Pervaiz Elahi maintained that the PML-Q leadership was fully aware and conscious of national problems and was striving actively for their solution at the earliest.