LAHORE, Feb 16: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi says nobody will be allowed to break the law with regard to the ban on processions all over the province. “Protest meetings can only be organized at specified places,” he said.

The chief minister was talking to reporters after the inaugural ceremony of the 13th international pharmacy conference and exhibition at the Aiwan-i-Iqbal on Thursday.

The CM said he had held a meeting with ulema, who unanimously adopted a resolution that damage to public and private property did not conform to the teachings of Islam. He said some ulema also termed the act against Shariah.

Meanwhile, special assistant to the chief minister Dr Sohail Zafar Cheema has said the elements taking the law in their hand would be dealt with sternly.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, he said incidents of ransacking and arson of private and public property during the strike against blasphemous cartoons would be thoroughly probed and elements responsible for it would be exposed and punished.

Councillors: The chief minister said the ruling PML was being organised at the grassroots level to trickle down benefits of the government’s agenda, urging councillors to keep a liaison with people for increasing the party membership.

He was speaking to nazims and councillors of Data Ganj Bakhsh and Shalamar towns here. Ministers Raja Basharat, Chaudhry Zaheeruddin and Abdul Aleem Khan and Lahore nazim Mian Amer Mahmood were also present.

Mr Elahi said the local government system had proved the best system to resolve people’s problems at the local level. The provincial and the district governments were jointly advancing the social development programme and the PML’s reorganisation would be completed in a month.

He said the government believed in the local government system and that was why it had further been strengthened through recent amendments to it, increasing its capacity to resolve people’s problems at local level.

The chief minister said the PML was the largest party in the country which believed in democracy. It had taken practical steps for strengthening democratic institutions and promotion of democratic culture.

A strong PML was necessary for Pakistan therefore it must be organised at all levels, he added.

He said people belonging to all sections of society had been given representation in the PML and all its wings were being activated.

The chief minister said the development process would be accelerated in every union council, asking the participating councillors and nazims to play an active role in the membership campaign of the party.

Chaudhry Zaheeruddin said the government had completed a record number of development projects.