GUJRANWALA, Jan 19: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) local leaders met European Union observers on Saturday and apprised them of what they called “pre-poll rigging” being carried out by Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam (PML-Q) candidates.
The local PPP and PML-N leaders expressed their apprehension that free, fair and transparent elections were not possible in the presence of such a caretaker government which was indeed continuity of the PML-Q government besides local bodies institutions which were being run by nazims belonging to either the PML-Q or their affiliates.
The EU observers met PPP divisional president and former MNA Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, district president Abdullah Virk and city president Lalla Idrees.
Later, the team had a meeting with PML-N’s former federal minister Ghulam Dastagir Khan, former provincial minister Usman Ibrahim, Engineer Khurram Dastagir, Mahmood Bashir Virk, Rana Nazir Ahmad Khan, Justice Iftikhar Ahmad Cheema (retired) and other National and Punjab Assembly aspirants.
The foreign observers were apprised of pressure tactics being carried out by the PML-Q aspirants, including implicating their rivals and their supporters in cases and harassing them through the local police.
They were also informed that almost all government functionaries and local bodies’ officials were being used to run the electioneering of PML-Q candidates.
The PPP and PML-N leaders, while referring to their petitions filed before the district returning officer (DRO), informed the EU observers that the DRO had issued warnings to some SHOs and PML-Q hopefuls to refrain from indulging in ‘pre-poll rigging’.
In the next round of meetings, the EU observers are scheduled to call on the DRO, the district coordination officer, the city police officer and other officials on Monday.
FLOUR: Local bread-sellers have protested the mill owners’ decision to enhance the price of superfine flour from Rs1,700 to Rs2,300 per sack and have threatened to shut their shops if this addition was not withdrawn.
The bread-sellers’ representatives led by their association president Malik Riaz presented a memorandum to the district coordination officer (DCO) during a meeting at his office on Saturday, asking the DCO to take an action against the flourmills owners for enhancing superfine flour’s price by Rs600 per sack. They termed the flourmills owners’ decision “oppressive”.
DCO Ather Hussain Sayal said that no official price had been fixed for this brand of daily-use commodity. He, however, convened a meeting of flourmills owners and bread-sellers’ representatives on Monday to decide the matter.
On the other hand, Rangers monitoring in-charge Colonel Ahad has warned a stern action against flourmills owners found involved in overcharging.
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