No witch-hunting of political rivals: Punjab governor

LAHORE: Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar has said that the government does not believe in witch-hunting of the opposition leadership for political reasons and it will never do so in future.

Talking to Advisor to Prime Minister on Accountability Shehzad Akbar during a meeting at his residence here on Monday, he said transparent accountability and meritocracy were the ideals of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and these will be ensured in all institutions.

Ch Mohammad Sarwar and Shehzad Akbar discussed measures for eradication of corruption in the province besides political and administrative issues during the meeting.

The governor said the only objective of the opposition parties, at the platform of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), was to derail process of accountability in order to safeguard their corruption, adding that the opposition further supported corruption in its opposition of the open ballot in the upcoming Senate elections.

Sarwar said the government was taking historic steps for elimination of corruption, and ensuring transparent accountability in the country.

He said it had become necessary to rid Pakistan of corruption in order to tackle the challenges faced by the country including economic challenges and inflation.

Ch Mohammad Sarwar said be it open ballot in Senate elections or rooting out corruption from the country, the opposition was averse to transparent accountability, adding that the government stands firm on holding the corrupt accountable.

"The unnatural alliance of the PDM has reached its logical end and Prime Minister Imran Khan will not bow down before any long march," he added.

Shehzad Akbar said corruption was the root-cause of all problems, and the government was taking practical steps to eliminate it.