PML-N ‘mulls’ sacking Raja Riaz from cabinet

LAHORE: Following the outburst of Senior Minister Raja Riaz against the Lahore High Court chief justice, the PML-N elders have discussed sacking him from the Punjab cabinet, Dawn has learnt.

According to sources, the PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif expressed his annoyance over the ‘harsh stance’ Raja Riaz adopted against the judiciary and the PML-N in his press conferences.

“The elder Sharif asked Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to sack him (Raja Riaz) from the provincial cabinet as his behaviour was not worthy of a minister,” a source said.

Mr Sharif was, however, told that firing Mr Riaz (as minister) might create problems for the coalition, besides creating an impression the PML-N was ‘backing the LHC chief justice’, the source said.

The PML-N circles have reportedly taken exception to Mr Riaz’s statement in which he called the courts as “Sharif courts” and LHC CJ as “PML-N spokesman”.

“The PML-N leadership, however, has decided to talk to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani about Riaz’s harsh statements against the PML-N,” the source said.

PML-N Senator Pervez Rashid denied the party leadership had discussed “sacking of Riaz”. “Mian Nawaz Sharif convened no meeting in this regard,” he said.

He, however, refused to comment on the statement of LHC CJ Khawaja Muhammad Sharif in which he had reportedly asked the PPP to quit the coalition in Punjab if it had objections to provincial prosecution secretary Rana Maqbool.

Raja Riaz, when contacted by Dawn, said he would not mind if the Punjab government took any action against him. Besides, he added he was not even afraid of going to jail.

“The Punjab government cannot take action against me as far as my performance is concerned. I would like to ask the chief minister to investigate the matters of my ministry (irrigation). Some 70 per cent corruption has been eliminated since my assuming the charge and the income of the mines and minerals department of whom I have additional charge has increased 10 times,” Riaz said.

Nawaz Sharif blames government for mismanagement in scathing attack

Islamabad: Former premier Nawaz Sharif launched a bitter attack on the government Tuesday, blaming it for economic mismanagement, rampant corrupt ion and confrontation with the judiciary.

Addressing a news conference in Lahore after a high-level meeting of his main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), he said his party would not remain a “silent spectator” and would play its role for containing the overall deterioration without upsetting the democratic system.

He demanded a thorough debate in the parliament on the conditions prevailing in the country in order to evolve a national strategy to reverse the drift into chaos.

Sharif once again denounced what he called attempts by the government to “buy loyalties of lawyers” and turn them against the judiciary by doling out financial grants to bars in Punjab province and other areas through its law minister. A number of bar associations had refused such handouts, he said and praised their stand recalling the struggle waged by the lawyer community and the PML-N that led to the restoration of the independent judiciary in March last year.

He said since the transition from dictatorship to democratic rule after the February 2008 general election, his party had taken care that the system was not destabilized, though it had to face criticism that it was acting as a friendly opposition to the Pakistan People's Party government.

“The economy is going down the drain and the situation in the country is rapidly deteriorating because of misrule and corruption. We cannot watch this deterioration silently; the direction has to be changed,” he said.

Sharif said courts in France have concluded that the Agosta submarine deal with Pakistan during the PPP government had involvement kickbacks. He said it was not difficult to pinpoint culprits and demanded that necessary action be taken.

He said when his party was in power the country's economy was flourishing, the value of Pakistani rupee was more than the Indian currency and the country did not have to beg loans from others.

The opposition leader's onslaught came amid ongoing tussle between the executive and the judiciary and emerging prospect of many federal and provincial lawmakers losing their seats as a result of a scandal over alleged fake educational degrees of parliamentarians.

Around 10 legislators belonging to PML-N, PPP and PML-Q have already quit in the wake of proceedings in courts on challenges to authenticity of their degrees they had furnished to contest the 2008 elections when graduation was a pre-requisite for participation in parliamentary polls.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) is currently engaged in a process to verify degrees of hundreds of legislators, following a Supreme Court order to the Election Commission to initiate action against lawmakers whose degrees were found to be spurious.

Political analysts say if a large number of lawmakers stood disqualified such a situation could warrant holding of fresh elections instead of filling vacant seats through by-polls. The two-year old government has dismissed suggestions of mid-term elections.

Asked at his news conference about PML-N stance over the issue, Sharif said his party was watching the developing situation and would take a decision at the appropriate time.