World | Pakistan
Governor and chief minister in war of words
Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif has blamed provincial governor Salman Taseer for crossing constitutional lines to damage the province's ruling coalition.
- By Shahid Hussain, Correspondent
- Published: 00:02 November 27, 2008
Islamabad: Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif has blamed provincial governor Salman Taseer for crossing constitutional lines to damage the province's ruling coalition.
Amid growing rivalry between Pakistan Peoples Party-appointed governor and the chief minister from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the two exchanged a fresh round of caustic verbal abuse.
Shahbaz, younger brother of former premier Nawaz Sharif, sent a scathing reply to a recent letter by Taseer which demanded an explanation for certain acts of the provincial government and complained the affairs of the province were not being run in accordance with the constitution.
In his letter, extracts from which were published yesterday, the chief minister said the attitude of the governor was causing unrest in the province.
While the governor had the right to seek information on several issues, including development projects, he was not empowered to take to task an elected chief minister of the province, Shahbaz told Taseer.
He asked Taseer not to use Governor House in Lahore, capital of the province, as a platform for political activities.
In equally strong terms, the governor told the media on Tuesday in Lahore that he would not be cowed by foul language or threats and continue to perform his constitutional functions.
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif cautioned that there was a limit to tolerance of what he called the "provocative" behaviour of the PPP governor.
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