PM seeks PML-N’s help to appoint consensus CEC | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

PM seeks PML-N’s help to appoint consensus CEC

LAHORE: Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Friday formally invited the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership for consultation over the appointment of a unanimous and impartial Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).

Addressing a meeting of the PPP Executive Committee at the Governor’s House, he said he wanted to take all the political forces along for the sake of democracy and democratic institutions in the country.

He offered an olive branch to the PML-N after being officially received by the Punjab government in Lahore. He was received at the airport by Punjab Prisons Minister Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor and Punjab Governor Latif Khosa, senior party leaders, including Jahangir Badr, Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan, Manzoor Wattoo, Samina Khalid Ghurki, Mian Ayub and others. During his two-day stay in Lahore, the PM would stay at the Governor’s House.

Raja Ashraf said he would not let respect for the judiciary dwindle. He said the top priority of his government was to reduce the power loadshedding for which he had constituted a committee to monitor the supply and demand on a daily basis, which had brought some improvement to the situation. He said loadshedding would be considerably reduced before the next elections.

The PM said his party had the credit of restoring the Constitution to its original form. He said it was his party’s policy of reconciliation that democratic institutions were moving towards completing their constitutional term in the country. Continuing the mission of his party, he said he wanted to appoint an independent and unanimous CEC and was inviting the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leadership to continue the consultation process.

Raja praised former PM Yusuf Raza Gilani for his services for the cause of the country, the PPP and democracy. He also expressed gratitude towards the Punjab government for welcoming him at the airport, and said he would treat all the four provinces equally as the PM and would not display any discriminatory behaviour.

He asked the PPP Punjab body to gear up their preparations for making the province a stronghold of the party again and reactivating every single worker to achieve the objective. He hoped the PPP would emerge victorious in the next elections on the basis of its public service and popularity.

The prime minister said the provincial bodies would also be consulted in policymaking, and they would be taken along for launching a mass contact campaign very soon.APP adds: Prime Minister Raja said the next general elections would be held on time. Earlier, the PPP Punjab chapter Executive Committee felicitated Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on his election as the PM, expressing the hope that he would continue to work for the cause of the party as well as workers.

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