ISLAMABAD, Nov 8: Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi in a routine meeting at the Islamabad Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) made certain statements which alluded towards the future strategy of the PML-Q, in the upcoming elections.

The PML-Q leader expressed confidence in the PPP leadership and even went as far as to say that the time he spent with the PML-N, turned out to be an unfruitful experience.

Heading towards the general elections, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi put all his eggs in the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) basket, stating: “It seems that 14 years with them (PML-N) have been a waste of time, whereas after opposing PPP for 40 years, now I have learnt my lesson.”

He further added: “We (PPP and PML-Q) will stay like friends and go in elections together and support each other in hard times.”

The deputy prime minister also used the opportunity to highlight all the successful projects he had initiated, when he was chief minister Punjab.

He also used the opportunity to take a swipe at his political opponents, stating that the PML-N had not maintained the pace of progress in the province, due to shifting focus on politically motivated projects.

“We need to have consistency of policies but now money is being wasted on soft projects with no long term future like tandoors,
bus service for Lahore and soft projects like yellow taxi scheme,” he said adding, “Any policy should be for a tenure of 15 years, and continuity of policies is always needed.”

During the visit, the deputy prime minister acknowledged the demand made by members of the business community that the federal capital was being managed by the bureaucracy and there is no say of stakeholders in the affairs of the city.

The President ICCI Zafar Bakhtawari and other leaders of the Chambers, including Munawar Mughal demanded the deputy prime minister to speed up work on a local government system and till the time people of the city don’t have a say in the city’s
administration, ICCI nominees should be inducted in various boards of government entities, especially Capital Development Authority (CDA) and utility stores.

“Currently there is no local government system in the city,” Mr Bakhtawari said, adding, “We do not need any unknown individual in the Board but it should be an ICCI nominee, so that he too is accountable to the whole community.”

The deputy prime minister assured that the representatives of ICCI would be inducted in the board of CDA.

Pervaiz Elahi said that he would take up the matter with his cabinet colleagues and the president of the country to induct a nominee of ICCI in different government boards.

“I feel that it will be good for CDA, if ICCI is on its board,” he added and said that the role of the state is to be a facilitator but real development comes only from the private sector.

He further said that Export Processing Zones (EPZ) would also be established in Chakari, Attock and Chakwal which would provide investment opportunities and create jobs in the region around Islamabad.

Citing examples of successful models like Sundar Industrial Estate and Faisalabad Garment City, he said that the State and the private sector can act as joint venture partners.