Govt ready for widespread administrative changes: Party unhappy with way Punjab working

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders expressed reservations over the Punjab government’s administrative matters on Sunday in a meeting of the party’s core committee which was presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Following the meeting of the party’s core committee, the prime minister held a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar. Geo News reported quoting sources that changes in the Punjab government were likely to take place.

Some committee members, particularly from Punjab, aired their reservations on the performance of Usman Buzdar and noted that he had not been able to launch any significant initiative on his own for the largest province.

Sources said some of the core committee members advised the prime minister to make large-scale changes in the Punjab government. Thesources said it was decided to change some secretaries of the provincial departments and heads of some provincial institutions. The meeting also decided to raise the recent incident of desecration of the Holy Quran in Norway at the European Union (EU) and Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The meeting chaired by the premier was attended by Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, governors of Punjab and Sindh Chaudhry Sarwar and Imran Ismail, respectively, Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak, Leader of the House in the Senate Syed Shibli Faraz, other cabinet members, including Dr Shireen Mazari, Shafqat Mehmood, Shaikh Rashid Ahmed, Babar Awan and Jahangir Tareen.

Meanwhile, the prime minister constituted a 13-member steering committee for the Kamyab Jawan Programme.

The prime minister will chair the committee, while Special Assistant to PM on Youth Affairs Usman Dar and Federal Ministers Shafqat Mehmood and Hammad Azhar are part of the committee. Advisers on Finance and Commerce Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Abdul Razak Dawood as well as Minister for Planning Asad Umar have also been nominated as committee members.

Meanwhile, in his remarks on social media, Imran Khan said eth PTI government is introducing a local government system which will ensure continuous provision of funds to villages. The premier said Pakistan has been put on the right path and now dollars are pouring in for the first time.

The prime minister said Pakistan Clean and Green Index is being launched to make every city of the country green and clean. Imran Khan said for the first time in four years, the current account deficit has become surplus.

Munawar Hasan adds: Sources have claimed a proposal to bring about a change in the top offices in Punjab. Speculations have been made by some party high-ups about the probability to appoint Pervaiz Elahi as Punjab CM within a few weeks, may be after December. There are also vibes about change of Punjab governor as well while another reshuffle in the cabinet is also on the horizon, said the sources.

Shafqat Mehmood, central leader of the PTI, however, denied any proposal to replace Usman Buzdar with Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. He said that such issues were not discussed in the core committee meeting. Sources said some other pressure groups have lately emerged in the party who are vying to get Punjab CM of their own choice. However, apart from Pervaiz Elahi, there is no other definite candidate in this regard.

The name of Pervaiz Elahi, incumbent Speaker of Punjab Assembly, surfaced as a strong candidate for the top slot of Punjab government after he played successful role in defusing situation arising from the Azadi March of the JUI-F. He has also been considered as an acceptable personality for various key institutions as he enjoys good relations with them. Pervaiz already has experience of successfully running the Punjab government. That fact that he is staunch opponent of the Sharif family makes him a strong candidate for this post, said the sources.