LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has urged ministers dissatisfied with her government to resign, responding to criticism over alleged corruption in the province.
“Those who have a problem should resign. Why are they sitting there as ministers?” she said at an event in Jhelum on Tuesday.
Her comments followed allegations by federal minister and PML-Q lawmaker Chaudhry Salik Hussain, who said in a November 2 television interview that he heard reports of corruption in Punjab but had no evidence. Maryam has since issued him a legal notice seeking Rs5 billion in damages. The notice says Hussain did not cite documents, inquiries, audits or other verifiable material to support his remarks.
Maryam said she had never claimed corruption was entirely absent from Punjab, but argued that her administration regularly uncovered cases. She challenged anyone with evidence against a provincial minister to come forward, saying she would take action against anyone found guilty. She also questioned whether corruption was an issue in other provinces.
The chief minister said her government was standing with low-income and working people, and claimed influential individuals could no longer mistreat ordinary citizens without consequences. As an example, she recounted an alleged assault by a shopkeeper on a young girl, saying she had directed that the girl be taken to a police station and allowed to slap him.
