— Caretaker CM says Punjab govt to provide level playing field to every political party
LAHORE: Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Dr Hasan Askari has said that he and his team will prove the critics wrong through actions, assuring that the provincial government would provide a level playing field to every political party.
In an exclusive interview with prominent journalist and Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami in his TV talk show – Ho Kya Raha Hai, he said that he had criticised every government during the past 40 years as he has written over 5,000 articles besides books and research papers during this period.
To a question, he said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) panel suggested his name for the chief ministership to run affairs of the interim setup in Punjab, as no one can come into power directly (to run interim set up) according to the constitution.
“I was not in the whole picture during the discussion on the interim setup. I was asked only once about responsibilities of the caretaker government,” he said and confirmed that he accepted the offer to run the caretaker setup.
To another question, he said that he neither had any political agenda before nor he would develop one in the future.
“It is very much clear that I have no political agenda at all,” he said, adding that he belongs to academia and the media and that was where he would return after the elections.
He said that the basic role of the interim government was to facilitate the Election Commission in holding free and fair elections. “Our provincial government will work in the framework provided by ECP for holding the elections,” he said.
About recent heavy rains, Dr Hasan Askari said that he visited the rain-affected areas and inspected emergency monsoon camps set up on the Lawrence Road and the Lakshmi Chowk where he was briefed about the water disposal arrangements.
He pointed out that record rainfall (250mm to 300mm in short time period) had been witnessed due to which water was accumulated on different roads in Lahore.
“We must keep in mind that torrential rains are beyond human expectations,” he said, adding that a cabinet committee, a permanent government body, was constituted to deal with rains and possible floods with Provincial Minister Zafar Mehmood in the chair.
