LAHORE – The PML-N has repudiated the statement of Punjab government wherein it has called for holding local government elections in Punjab.
PML-N MNA and Lahore chapter President Muhammad Pervez Malik told TheNation Tuesday that the time was ripe for general elections and not for the Local bodies (LB) polls and full concentration should be paid to make the former free and fair. The LB elections, he said, should be held after the general elections with a reasonable gap between the two in order to avert burden of two elections on the national economy at close succession.
Pervez Malik said that it is not the case that Punjab government is afraid of local bodies polls and added that at the moment the pressing need is of general elections as the country faced many challenges of serious nature, which could be addressed though the general elections as the federal government has failed to deal with them in a proper manner. According to him, the federal government and its representatives are forcing for local bodies elections ahead of general elections and they want to buy time over and above the five years tenure to practice corruption and also to rig the general polls through LB representatives. He said his party was quite ready for general elections while for the LB polls legislation has to be completed and also for deciding whether the LB polls should be held on party or non-party basis.
Malik said a lot of work is left even in those provinces where the federal government wants LB polls before the general ones as such the voice for LB polls appears not more than a ploy to create confusion.
Provincial Minister for Law Rana Sanaullah Khan has said that the nation wants immediate elections to get rid of corrupt and inefficient rulers and such elements will be made an example in the elections as they have pushed the nation into darkness. He said that there is no alternative for general elections and the government coming into power as a result of elections would resolve the problems of the country.
He said that corrupt rulers were looking for excuses to avoid elections in which they are bound to meet a crushing defeat. He said that enlightened people of the country have fully recognised PPP’s corrupt leaders and their statement mongering would not be able to save President Zardari. He said that the corrupt gang would soon meet its logical end.