From Abid Usman
LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday directed the newly elected Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi to immediately restore welfare schemes in the province launched during Buzdar’s tenure.
The former prime minister issued these directives while chairing a virtual meeting with Punjab chief executive Elahi and former federal minister Moonis Elahi through video link.
The meeting discussed political and administrative issues while the welfare and development projects in Punjab also came under discussion.
The former premier instructed Elahi to restore the Ehsaas, Sehat Insaaf card and other welfare projects in Punjab immediately.
“The previous government ignored our welfare programs but the time has come to speed up these initiatives without delay so that the people can get relief,” Imran said.
On this, Punjab CM assured that the aforementioned programs will be started immediately and all possible steps will be taken to provide relief to the masses.
In the conclusion to a hearing that gripped the country for the past four days, a three-member bench, comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar, announced an unusually harsh verdict after over a three-hour delay.
“The governance of the province of Punjab in accordance with the Constitution has been subverted whereby the fundamental rights of the people have been seriously infringed,” said the top court in its 11-page short order.
“As a result, the ruling dated 22.07.2022 issued by Respondent No1, Deputy Speaker, the Punjab Assembly is set aside and declared to be void, without lawful authority and of no legal effect,” read the order. By virtue of the order, PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz lost his status of the “trustee” chief minister.
Wednesday, Imran Khan had reiterated that early elections under a new election commissioner are the only way out of the deepening economic and political crises in the country.
The former prime minister, in his televised address to the nation on Wednesday, said that the Pakistani masses “have turned into a nation”, adding that the way the PTI emerged successful despite all “tactics” by the ruling party was a miracle.
The PTI chief insisted that the country had the right economic indicators when he was in power and he had warned the “powerful quarters” about it.
“We were on a fast pace on the agricultural front with all four bumper crops witnessing progress,” he said, adding, “The way we tackled the situation during the Covid-19 pandemic was also admired by the international organisations.”
“Pakistan was on an upward trajectory and that’s when a conspiracy was hatched against us,” he recalled. Imran, who was ousted from power via a vote of no confidence in April, opined that timely elections would have saved the country from the “economic crisis that it is facing today”. He also took the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to task for its opposition to the electronic voting machines.
The electronic voting machines (EVMs), he said, could have stopped uncountable ways of corruption but it was opposed.
The PTI leader claimed that there is only one way for Pakistan to come out of the prevailing situation and that is to ensure fresh general elections in the country.
