Free, fair polls top priority: CM

LAHORE:Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Dr Hasan Askari has said free, fair and peaceful elections is the top priority of the caretaker setup and people will be given full opportunity to use their right of franchise in a congenial environment.

He said environment of peace is imperative for the promotion of trade and economic activities and it is also necessary for promoting investment and opportunities of employment. The caretaker government will leave no stone unturned to improve law and order, he added. He said all necessary steps are being taken to further improve law and order and added strategy has been devised to provide a peaceful atmosphere for the voters on the occasion of elections. Maintenance of peaceful atmosphere is the responsibility of the government so that citizens could cast their vote and the caretaker government will fulfill this responsibility, he added. Dr Hasan Askari has expressed deep grief over the death of husband of famous writer and novelist Bushra Rehman.

In his condolence message, the chief minister has extended sympathies to the bereaved family and prayed to Almighty Allah to rest the departed soul in peace. Meanwhile, the CM has also expressed deep grief over the death of famous poet and writer Mehdi Masood.

information minister: Punjab Caretaker Minister for Information Ahmed Waqas Riaz has said that conducting free and fair elections was prime responsibility of caretaker government and they are restricted to their constitutional mandate.

Talking to senior journalists here Wednesday, he informed that process of transfers and postings against administrative posts and police ranks has been started. “Let me assure that caretakers have no political motives and we will do what is in the larger interest of the nation”, said the minister.

He said that unelected ones cannot last for long and “we will meet expectations of general masses”. During question and answer session the minister said that political parties have their own point of view and “there is no bar on right of expression or criticism”. “I assure that we will perform our duty with national approach and honesty”, he said. The minister informed the media persons that the Punjab government would take all steps to provide relative information to media on the polling day. “Caretaker Punjab government was fully aware of law and order and will fully cooperate with election commission on election day”, concluded Ahmed Waqas.

Meanwhile, Punjab Caretaker Finance Minister Zia Haider Rizvi Wednesday said that no funds for the development projects were being stopped, but expenditures were being controlled till elections to avoid any constraints of financial resources during election process.

Chairing a meeting of Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA), he said that on the instructions of Supreme Court of Pakistan, a joint strategy would be devised after consolation of all the four provinces, telecommunication sector and federal government on GST collection. He appreciated the PRA being the top revenue collector agency among all four provinces. Zia Rizvi appreciated the suggestions of the representatives of the all four provinces on GST on the issue of services and asked the federal government representative to call a meeting on the issue immediately so that provincial revenue authorities could present their case on it. He said that SOPs were being made to resolve the taxation issues which would be helpful for the government in the future. The minister said the caretaker set-up was committed to fulfilling its mandate of conducting transparent election.

Earlier, the minister met with the representatives of cinema hall owners and assured them of resolving their concern about taxation. He asked them to pay their taxes by June 30 and instructed the Excise and Taxation Department to develop easy taxation formula with the consultation of the cinema owners. The formula should be acceptable to the government and stakeholders, he asserted.