Nawaz slams government for failing to form flood commission

ISLAMABAD - Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League(N) chief Nawaz Sharif has criticised the government for failing to constitute a flood commission comprising eminent personalities to supervise flood relief efforts.

In a joint press conference with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Aug 14, Sharif and Gilani announced the constitution of such a commission. The government though backed out later and no obvious reason was given for the change in plans.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore Friday afternoon, Sharif expressed disappointment that the proposal was not carried forward. “If this had been done, both opposition and treasury would have jointly appealed for support from the masses and we could have generated billions on our own,” he argued.

He said that the absence of credible people in the relief and rehabilitation work could make it difficult to generate required funds. “The lack of credibility on part of the government can also make the foreign aid difficult to come by,” he said.

Sharif said he was not playing politics in the crisis situation arisen due to historic floods and the government should also refrain from doing so. “However, I’ll keep pointing out the follies of the government and I have been doing so for several months now,” he said.

He called upon the government to fulfil the mandate given to it by the common people and demanded constituting a flood commission to probe allegations of illegal breaches in certain areas to protect influential politicians.

Nawaz was also critical of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain for inviting martial law in the country. “Can Altaf Hussain tell me what have we achieved with four previous martial laws,” he said, adding that the country’s future could be protected only through the continuity of the democratic system.

(Awais Saleem can be contacted at great_wall165@yahoo.co.uk)