LAHORE: Punjab Information Minister Ahmad Waqas Riaz has said that no one will be allowed to disrupt law and order on Nawaz Sharif’s return to the city on July 13 (Friday) and any disorder will be dealt with an iron hand.
“The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will deal with the arrest of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif while the Punjab government will ensure a peaceful atmosphere in the city to avoid any untoward incident”, he said during an interview with APP on Tuesday.
PML-N had given a call to its workers to gather at the Lahore airport on Friday afternoon to accord a resounding welcome to Nawaz who was convicted by the NAB court last week.
The information minister said that the caretaker government is committed to ensuring free, fair and transparent elections as per the guidelines of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
About the stoppage of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s convoy, the information minister said that the intended place of visit by the PPP chief was not as per the schedule communicated to the local police. He said that the local police stopped the convoy due to security concerns.
“A committee has been constituted by the Punjab chief minister to look into the matter as per the instructions of the ECP,” he added. He said that the political parties were free to move anywhere they wished to but the visits must be communicated to the provincial home department so that their security could be ensured.
About the security situation, he said that the security situation was favourable and there was no clear and present threat. “However the political leadership and candidates should adhere to the guidelines by the local police and these should not be taken as an act to disrupt their election campaign”, he stressed.
About the Rawalpindi Police, he said that the Rawalpindi Police was authorised to use force but showed restraint in order to avoid law and order situation as a large mob had gathered in the rally. He said that the police provided ample time to Capt (r) Safdar to hand himself over to the NAB authorities without resorting to tear gas shelling or the use of force. He said that legal action will be taken against all those elements which obstructed the law.
He reiterated the caretaker government’s resolve to ensure that nobody influences the election results. He said that the Punjab Chief Minister Dr Hassan Askari had already set up a complaint cell to address such complaints by the political parties and it had been made more effective recently with more powers to address the complaints, adding that it is impossible to influence elections in the presence of a robust media today.
The information minister said that the government would ensure the speedy flow of information to the media persons so that election results reach them at the earliest.
About increased education and health budgets by the caretaker governments, he said that the caretaker setup does not have the legislative powers but it could give policy guidelines to the elected government to follow.
About recent flooding of Lahore due to rain-water, he said that it was wrong to blame the caretaker government for the failure to drain rainwater, adding that outmoded drainage system in Lahore had caused the blushes for the governments. He said that flooding by the rainwater is not a new phenomenon for Lahore and it had happened during the previous years as well. He accepted the fact that Lahore received unprecedented rains a fortnight ago.
The information minister said, “We must cope with the reality that the population of the provincial metropolis had increased manifold but the drainage system and sanitation had not been improved on modern lines.”
About ensuring compliance of the code of conduct by the candidates, the information minister said that the district machinery has ensured that the candidates comply with ECP’s instructions during the election campaign, adding that the streamers or banners violating the code of conduct were removed immediately.
Regarding the development work undertaken by the local government representatives, the information minister said that the provincial finance department has informed the government that no development funds had been released to the local bodies except the salaries budget. He disagreed with the idea that the local governments could affect the election results.