Spokesperson of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Marriyum Aurangzeb on Tuesday said that Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar and Prime Minister Imran Khan have lost the confidence of people and bureaucracy, and demanded their resignation. As PML-N demands the resignation of the premier, there are also some voices within the ruling party about the performance of the Punjab government under CM Buzdar.
IG Punjab refuses to work with newly-appointed Lahore CCPO https://t.co/aYpqM3LegZ pic.twitter.com/XYdP2safCy
— 92 News HD Plus (@92newschannel) September 8, 2020
Responding to differences between CCPO Lahore and IG Punjab, Marriyum said that refusal of IG Punjab to work with the Chief Minister is proof of the government’s failure. She also expressed concern about IG’s statement on misconduct and said that in simple words, Shoaib Dastagir’s statement means that corruption, incompetence, and nepotism are common in the government.
She also alleged that rulers are using institutions of the country for politics and said that opposition is pointing out interference in institutions for the last two years. It is pertinent to mention here Federal and Punjab government on Tuesday decided not to transfer Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore after differences emerged between him and Inspector General (IG) Punjab Shoaib Dastgir.
Read more:Â Police Service: Challenges & Reforms
Coalition partners running Punjab?
The absence of serious efforts to reform police in Punjab is often linked with the coalition partners of the ruling party. Political analysts and opinion-makers believe that the PML-Q wants two things to be done at the outset; a) Chief Minister Usman Buzdar should not be replaced; b) Prime Minister Imran Khan must not intervene into provincial affairs.
If accepted, these two demands will make the PML-Q the most powerful force in Punjab. Previously, there was a reported tussle between Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar and the Chaudhry brothers over who runs the province. This is one of the reasons that PM Imran does not want to replace the incumbent CM.
Media ‘exposes’ Buzdar, PM always defends his choice
The media and CM Buzdar share a complicated relationship. Every time the media has built a strong campaign against CM, the PM has jumped to his support and backed him on his decisions. The recent campaign being the failure of CM to curb Dengue in Punjab. Hundreds of cases emerged, and the outbreak claimed several lives.
https://twitter.com/faisal_qafhsa/status/1302963919238107136?s=20
Furthermore, police brutality is rampant in Punjab and goes unchecked. The case of Salahuddin is the most recent example where inhumane torture by Punjab Police claimed the life of a person involved in an ATM robbery.
Read more:Â Punjab, Sindh continue to evade police reform
A segment of the media is also campaigning that Usman Buzdar has failed as a CM, and is running Punjab with a bad governance policy, therefore he needs to be replaced immediately.
But PM Imran came to Buzdar’s rescue and lent his political support to CM Punjab and saved him from the quagmire. The CM has been asked to fix the ongoing tussle between the IG and CCPO.