LAHORE, July 12: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif says he has absolutely no trust in the announcement made by the federal cabinet on Wednesday about uniform loadshedding throughout the country in future.

“It seems this announcement is a new ploy of the Pakistan People’s Party to hoodwink the people.”

He said while talking to the local media on Thursday.

He said such an announcement had earlier been made thrice but the promises always proved to be false with hundreds of industries in the province shutting down for want of power.

He said the truth behind the new announcement would also be revealed within three to four days.

ELECTION: Shahbaz Sharif sees immediate new elections as the panacea to resolve all the issues presently facing the country.

“Immediate fresh general election can resolve the ongoing energy crisis, corruption and other issues facing the country,” he said in an interview with a foreign paper.

“Due to (power) loadshedding, everyone is worried, whereas the federal government has lost confidence of the masses due to accusations and cases of corruption against the ruling politicians,” he argued.

Shahbaz, who is also Punjab chapter president of the PML-N, said his party had supported the PPP government in the Centre with sincere intentions however this could not last as (President) Asif Zardari did not fulfill his promises.

“We cannot close our eyes to corruption and inefficiency of the federal government, therefore we are pressurising the federal government to hold immediate elections.”

About establishment of new provinces, the chief minister said his party was in favour of new federating units but these should not be on linguistic and racial basis. He said the PPP was using the division of Punjab as a stunt to win elections.

He said his party was against the division of Sindh, as it would negatively affect its administrative capacity. However, he hoped, the proposed national commission would make recommendations for setting up new provinces in Khybar Paktunkhwa, Balochistan and south Punjab, besides restoring Bahawalpur as a separate administrative unit.—Staff Reporter