JHELUM: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has challenged critics of her government over corruption allegations, questioning why ministers who are dissatisfied with her administration continue to hold office instead of resigning.
“Those who have a problem should resign. Why are they sitting there as ministers?” she said while addressing an event in Jhelum on Tuesday.
Her remarks came after federal minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) MNA Chaudhry Salik Hussain alleged corruption in Punjab. In an interview with a private television channel on November 2, Hussain said he had no evidence but heard stories about corruption in the province every day.
The chief minister subsequently sought Rs5 billion in damages from Hussain through a legal notice. The six-page notice, issued on her behalf by Additional Advocate General Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Nawaz, maintained that the minister had failed to identify any document, official inquiry, audit observation, investigation, complaint or other verifiable source to substantiate his remarks.
Speaking in Jhelum, Maryam said those who had failed to deliver in the past found it easy to accuse others of corruption. She clarified that she had never claimed corruption had been completely eliminated in Punjab.
“I have never said that corruption has been completely eliminated in Punjab,” she said.
However, she claimed that Punjab was the only province where the chief minister regularly uncovered corruption cases, and questioned whether corruption did not exist in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Challenging critics to provide evidence against any member of her cabinet, Maryam said she would not spare a minister found involved in wrongdoing.
“If anyone comes forward with evidence against my minister, I will not spare them,” she said.
The chief minister also said her government was standing alongside poor and working-class people, adding that politically influential individuals could no longer assault ordinary citizens with impunity.
Referring to an incident in which a shopkeeper allegedly assaulted a young girl, Maryam said she had directed that the girl be brought to the police station and instructed to slap the shopkeeper in return.
