PML-N banking on turncoats to govern Punjab

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira has said that the so-called principled party - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) - was banking on the turncoats to rule the Punjab. Addressing party workers late last night, Kaira said that the PML N, which did not have majority in the Punjab Assembly, indulged in changing loyalties of the legislators. He said that it was the PML-N chief, Mian Nawaz Sharif, who had pursued the politics of hatred by fueling provincialism and raising slogans such as “Jag Punjabi Jag”. On the other hand, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) promoted the politics of reconciliation, he said, adding that was why it had restored the Constitution of 1973 with the help of coalition partners. The Information Minister said that Nawaz Sharif had miserably failed on many occasions to fulfil his commitments and learn a lesson from his past mistakes. He said that Nawaz Sharif backed out from many articles of the Charter of Democracy (CoD), which he had signed with Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, including the commitments of not to buy the political loyalties of opponents and to form a constitutional accountability commission. Kaira said that the PPP was in a position to form the government in Punjab through coalition with the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, but it preferred to keep its commitments as per the CoD. He said that the PML-N had withdrawn its support at the Centre but the PPP continued to back it in the province for the cause of democracy, though its legislators were subjected to persecution and prosecution. Kaira said the PPP had never compromised on principles nor its leaders fled abroad despite the worst dictatorial oppression and victimization. Even the PPP is still blamed for the sins committed by the others. The Information Minister said that the PPP government had given autonomy to the provinces, distributed over Rs 900 billion among the provinces, overcome terrorism and made the country self-sufficient despite many hurdles. He said that only elections could determine the popularity of political leaders not the IRI surveys, which were not reliable by any means. The next general elections will decide how much Nawaz Sharif is popular among the masses, he added. The Information Minister said that the PPP was accountable only for the period it was in power, but it could not be held responsible for the actions taken by others before 2008. He said that power loadshedding existed before the PPP came into power. The PPP leadership had even criticized the menace of loadshedding in its election campaign for 2008 general elections, he added. He said that the PPP government would soon overcome the power loadshedding, the problem, which it had inherited from the past dictatorial regime.