Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that energy crisis in the country and agonizing loadshedding are towering “achievements” of Ali Baba and Forty Thieves.

While addressing the people protesting against prolonged loadshedding at Kot Lakhpat here on Tuesday, he said sheer injustice was being done to Punjab with regard to loadshedding. He said 18 hours long loadshedding in Punjab reflected Zardari’s vindictive attitude towards the people of Punjab. He said those who accused him of provincialism must realize that he was first and foremost a Pakistani. He said Punjab had sacrificed its share of Rs 11 billion for the approval of NFC award which was not provincialism but an unparalleled example of national solidarity, unity and brotherhood.

Shahbaz said that in Karachi which was the City of Lights, industries operate six days a week while in Punjab they operated only three days a week. He said that when the cities of Punjab were subjected to loadshedding for 18 hours and there was no loadshedding in Karachi even for a single day, than how could that be termed as uniform loadshedding.

The CM warned the Zardari gang that their vindictive actions against the people of Punjab would prove to be costly for them. He said that he wanted to remind those who accuse him of provincialism that Punjab had always played an exemplary role for national unity as was reflected in the approval of NFC Award.

Shahbaz Sharif said the rulers of Islamabad had pushed the country to darkness through their dark deeds which had resulted in painful loadshedding. He said that the energy crisis was the direct result of loot and plunder and incompetence of the corrupt mafia.

The chief minister said that soon the darkness in the country would be removed and under the dynamic leadership of PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, the country would see the light of the day.

Meanwhile, Shahbaz Sharif has said that national institutions were deliberately destroyed in the dictatorial era due to which the trust of the people has not been restored in them.

He expressed these views while talking to the complainants who had come from various districts in his tent office on Tuesday.

The CM said the present system belonged to the rich whereas no one paid heed to the poor.

He said he had come to realize many flaws of the system by keeping continuous contact with the people in his tent office along with realisation of the problems faced by the downtrodden. He said justice and accountability ought to be for all.

Shahbaz said revolutionary steps had been taken to reform the police system; however, the people still had to desperately search for justice in police stations and Katcheries. He directed the police officers to keep their offices open for the poor masses in order to solve their problems. He warned that those police officers who did not perform their duty with regard to solution of the problems of people had no right to remain on their posts.

He said that by sitting in his tent office, he had come to realize the problems and difficulties being faced by the masses while also realizing the fact that public problems could also be resolved in a simple and austere atmosphere. He noted that if the system operates according to rules and regulations, people’s problems could be resolved at the lower level and they did not have to run from pillar to post for the redress of their grievances.