LB polls in Sindh, PML-N should follow lead: Gill

Special Assistant to Prime Minister Aslam Gill said on Wednesday that the decision of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari for local body polls in Sindh before the general elections was a message to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to do the same in Punjab to increase its popularity.
Gill said that any reluctance to do so would expose the hollow claims of PML-N in support of democracy and would also decrease their popularity which had already eroded to the lowest level.
He said the president had squarely dispelled the impression that the ruling parties would not hold local bodies election to give longevity to their rule.
He said the announcement of the president in this regard showed that the PPP strongly believed in the democratic process and its sanctity.
He said the leadership of the PML-N was notorious for keeping everything under its thumb and the governance of the Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif was a perfect example of the absolute power exercised by the party.
He questioned the justification behind the Punjab CM keeping many departments under his command on the pretext of collective responsibility, and termed it the worst manifestation of the parliamentary democratic practices. Nowhere in the world was this practice in vogue and the only exception was the Punjab province, Gill added. He also questioned the improvements the PML-N had brought in the province where the rate of street crimes and cases of kidnapping for ransom had compounded and the people were suffering from extreme insecurity.
Gill said that the people of the province were frustrated and disillusioned as they did not foresee any improvement in the law and order situation.
He said the PPP derived its strength from the people who were the source of power and the ultimate arbiter, adding that the party would continue to strive for their welfare and empowerment.