The Punjab chapter of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) on Sunday issued a charge sheet against the provincial government.
A statement issued by the PAT spokesman, said the chief minister had not fulfilled his promises to the people.
“The chief minister issued false statements on four occasions this year. On June 17, 2014, he announced that he would resign if a judicial commission investigating the Model Town incident found him guilty. The commission held him directly responsible for the PAT workers’ deaths, but he did not resign,” the statement said.
“The chief minister had also announced that the government could not purchase new cars. However, the CM’s Secretariat has sent a summary for the purchase of bulletproof cars costing Rs440 million. He had promised that his government would not take any new loans. However, it has signed a deal with the Asian Development Bank for a $150 million loan. It has filed another application for a $500 million loan,” the statement said.
“The CM claimed that he would change the patwari culture. He also said that all land record will be computerised by the end of 2014. However, only 40 per cent work has been done on the project,” the statement said.
“Likewise promises of free education, clean drinking water and end of thana culture have gone unfulfilled,” the statement said.
“This is the worst-ever government in the history of the province,” it said.
PAT secretary general Khurram Nawaz Gandapur said that the charge sheet was based on facts. “Those promises were never fulfilled. For example, he promised to change his name if he failed to provide roti for Rs2. He never changed his name,” Gandapur said.
“The CM had also promised to run pink buses for women and air-conditioned buses for students. These promises remain unfulfilled even today. Shahbaz had promised to bring back money deposited in Swiss banks by Pakistani politicians and to change his name if he failed. However, the government has not brought back anything from Swiss banks. They are not even interested in getting the jewellery for which they had filed a case in a Swiss court, stating that it belonged to former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari. The Swiss court has announced its verdict, but the government is silent over the matter,” Gandapur said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 15th, 2014.