News
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
President can hold two offices simultaneously, says Taseer* Governor says the poor are being robbed by the Punjab govt under the sasti roti scheme
Daily Times Monitor
LAHORE: Asif Ali Zardari can be the chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the president of Pakistan at the same time, a private TV channel quoted Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer as saying on Monday.
Addressing a public gathering – outside the house of PPP Punjab President Chaudhry Asghar – held to mark the 57th birth anniversary of late prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the governor questioned rhetorically, “If politicians cannot hold the office of the president then are bureaucrats supposed to do the job?”
He said that the Sindh governor also belonged to a political party but when it came to Punjab, people were quick to level allegations that the province had a ‘political governor’.
Failed initiative: According to the channel, the governor said the provincial government’s ‘sasti roti scheme’ was a failed initiative, and alleged that Rs 600 million were being used by Punjab every month in the name of the scheme while the people had not benefited at all. Punjab is being robbed in the name of the poor, he added.
The governor pointed out that it was the president who raised the slogan ‘Pakistan Khappay’ (we want Pakistan) after Benazir’s assassination at a time when the enemies of Pakistan were chanting ‘Pakistan Na Khappay’. He said Zardari was the true representative of the whole country as he had been elected to the office by people from all provinces, the channel reported.
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan leader Muhammad Ludhianvi’s statement that the banned outfit supported the PPP’s member of national assembly in the by-polls was false and baseless, the governor said. Ludhianvi made the statement at the behest of the PML-N, the governor added, according to the channel.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk