Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) parliamentary party leader in Punjab Assembly, Syed Hassan Murtaza has said that PPP rejects the South Punjab Secretariat and wants full province and provincial autonomy.
Talking to media after the parliamentary party meeting here on Thursday, Hassan Murtaza said that the South Punjab Secretariat as announced by Federal Ministers Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Firdous Ashiq Awan was mere a lollipop and not acceptable for PPP.
He said that the parliamentary party meeting has expressed full confidences in the leadership of Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The parliamentary party leader said the PPP’s demand is that South Punjab should have full province and provincial sovereignty.
Our issue is not that of the capital of southern Punjab, but we want that people should have their own government, and they should have their equal representation in the Senate and the National Assembly, he outlined. PM Imran Khan lied and made false promise to the people of southern Punjab province during election campaign, and we would not allow him to escape from his promise, he claimed.
Hassan Murtaza reminded that the PPP has approved the bill of southern province from the Senate, and now the bill still exists in the National Assembly. He blamed that the selected government is screaming to divert attention from its failure; he warned that ministers should mind their language and don’t use non-parliamentary language against the PPP leadership.
He further stated that the days of PTI are over; these ministers will no longer be with it. He said that the party has sought explanation from Ghazanfar Langh, and he said he had met with the chief minister to resolve the issues in his constituency, Langah said it was the Chief Minister’s low capacity that he issued a statement of support, he claimed. Though government is using funds and money to buy opposition members, yet the PPP has strong grip and discipline, he added.
Earlier, the PPP parliamentary meeting chaired by Syed Hassan Murtaza discussed the prevailing situation and devising a strategy to counter government’s policy to buy their loyalties, particularly reference to Ghazanfar Langah’s meeting with Chief Minister Punjab. The meeting decided to issue show cause notice to Ghazanfar Langah,
Ali Haider Gilani, Raees Nabil, Makhdoom Usman, Shazia Abid and Mumtaz Ali Khan Chang attended the meeting. They opinioned a written explanation should be obtained from Ghazanfar Langah and expressed full confidence on the leadership of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
They also congratulated Chairman Bilawal on his successful Punjab visit and rejected separate secretariat of south Punjab. The Secretariat has never been an alternative to the province, Syed Hassan Murtaza said and asserted that the government’s bullying and greed cannot change our loyalties. All the recommendations of the meeting will be forwarded to the leadership, he said, and all the directions that the party leadership will give on these recommendations will be followed, Syed Hasan Murtaza concluded.
