Cases of Zardari shifted to Punjab: PPP leader concerned at trend of distrusting small provinces

Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentary leader in Punjab Assembly Syed Hassan Murtaza said on Tuesday that trend of distrusting small provinces should be stopped.

While speaking on a point of order in the Assembly, Hassan Murtaza said that cases of former president Asif Zardari were shifted from Sindh to Punjab. He also said if the government has no trust in the courts of Sindh, they should transfer all cases of these courts to Punjab. He said the PPP respects the institutions. He said Zardari was not asking for relief from courts but he was saying that the government should prove cases against him or seek his apology.

While criticizing Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had left the country for treatment but Imran Khan is still claiming that he will not give NRO to anybody.

The session started 1 hour 40 minutes late under the chair of Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari. The answers of the question regarding Specialized Health Care and Medical Education were given by Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid.

Earlier, Provincial Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Social Welfare Raja Basharat during a press conference said that rumors of change in government has been hearing from day one while the government has successfully completed one year, so there is no authenticity in these rumors as well as news about any rift among the government ranks should also regarded as baseless.

The press gallery committee president Mian Aslam and general secretary Faizan Bangash were also present on the occasion. The law minister said that the government is taking immediate measures to reduce price hike but it also depends on the supply and demand of the commodities, however will likely be reduced in the coming days.

He said that in the case of Mian Nawaz Sharif, the government did not show a moment of inadequacy or misconduct and provided all the facilities for his treatment according to his will.

Raja Basharat said that the current session of PA has come up with a larger agenda of legislation. "We want to bring the opposition together and create a happy atmosphere in the House, but unfortunately the opposition's agenda revolves around personal interests rather than public interest," he said.

Raja Basharat said that the Speaker Punjab Assembly has constituted a Business Advisory Committee to resolve the issue of resignations of opposition from the standing committees. He said that the issuance of Ordinance is in accordance with Article 128 of the Constitution of Pakistan and is also essential for good governance when there is no assembly session in progress while every ordinance also has to go through all the constitutional steps to become a law.

On a question of production orders of Hamza Shahbaz and Khwaja Salman Rafiq, he said that the Punjab government makes all decisions within the party through mutual consultation with top leadership.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019