\u201cIf your roads are broken […] ask your governments,\u201d says Punjab\u2019s chief minister
\n Lahore
\nPunjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has said she is not only cleaning Punjab of crime and filth but also \u201ccleansing the minds of those who envy the province\u2019s progress\u201d \u2014 continuing the war of words with Sindh.
\n\u201cSome people get upset when I speak about Punjab \u2014 but tell me, which province am I the chief minister of? If I don\u2019t speak for Punjab, then who should?\u201d CM Maryam said while addressing an event on Tuesday.
\nThe war of words, which began over flood compensation through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), between PPP and PML-N further intensified after the Punjab CM said other parties used the flood devastation in the province for political mileage.
\nPPP has been calling for the provision of aid to flood victims via BISP \u2014 a proposition turned down by the Punjab government.
\nAddressing the ceremony today, the chief minister said she also wanted Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Sindh to be \u201cas clean and developed as Punjab,\u201d adding that all provinces received substantial funds.
\n\u201cSo if your roads are broken, if you must travel in rickety buses, or if wheat is expensive, then ask your own governments why that is,\u201d she remarked.
\nMaryam said progress and prosperity were the right of every citizen and \u201cnot something they should have to beg for.\u201d She added that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appreciated her work during their meetings. \u201cI tell him I\u2019ve learnt all this from Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif,\u201d she said.
\nMeanwhile, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari dismissed calls for CM Maryam to apologise to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
\n\u201cWhat should the chief minister apologise for? If anyone owes an apology, it\u2019s the Sindh government. They started this row; it\u2019s up to them to end it.\u201d Bokhari accused the PPP of targeting the Punjab government to weaken the federation and advised PTI to \u201cset its own house in order.\u201d
\nThe federal government has also stepped in to calm tensions between Sindh and Punjab.
\nPresident Asif Ali Zardari has tasked Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to facilitate mediation between the ruling PML-N and its ally, PPP, sources told Geo News on Tuesday.
\nNaqvi will meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tomorrow (Wednesday), where he will request that the premier play a role in calming tensions between the two parties, they added.
\nMeanwhile, PPP leaders Palwasha Khan and Senator Waqar Mehdi continued their criticism of Maryam\u2019s remarks, with Khan saying the PPP was \u201can ally, not a slave\u201d of the PML-N, and Mehdi alleging that \u201cit seems the niece is plotting against her uncle.\u201d
\nOn the other hand, PTI leader Asad Qaiser invited the PPP to join the opposition benches, saying his party would support a no-confidence move against the government \u201cwithout any preconditions.\u201d PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja also claimed that the \u201cfriendly tussle\u201d between the PPP and the PML-N would end soon, though he ruled out any possibility of a coalition with the PPP.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cIf your roads are broken […] ask your governments,\u201d says Punjab\u2019s chief minister Lahore Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has said she is not only cleaning Punjab of crime and filth but also \u201ccleansing the minds of those who envy the province\u2019s progress\u201d \u2014 continuing the war of words with Sindh. \u201cSome people get upset […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-507297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national"},"yoast_head":"\n