Maryam vows to resign if one rupee of corruption proven

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has said she would resign from office if even one rupee of corruption were proven against her, and challenged her critics to produce such evidence.

Addressing a ceremony in Lahore, the chief minister said the provincial government was running a campaign against bribery and taking action against officials accused of taking payments. Government employees found accepting bribes were being removed from their posts, she said, and described the drive against corruption as one of her administration's priorities.

Minute Mirror reported that she invited anyone to establish a single rupee of corruption against her and said she would step down at once if such a charge were proved. Aik News carried the same undertaking in its headline account of the event.

Turning to the economy, Maryam Nawaz said growth and investment were not possible without peace and stability. She asked how industrial workers could be expected to do their jobs when protests and vandalism occurred regularly, and said a secure environment was the first requirement for drawing domestic and foreign investment. Political unrest and uncertainty, she said, put investors off and made life difficult for businesses and their employees.

She pointed to Punjab's share of Pakistan's gross domestic product and said the province stood at the centre of the country's economic development.

On land, the chief minister said her government had acted against illegal occupation and encroachment, and claimed that properties held unlawfully for 25 years or more had been recovered. Encroachments had been cleared to widen markets and improve commercial facilities, she said, with action also under way against land grabbers.

She said every sector, industry included, was going through a process of change and that the province had to adapt to new economic and industrial requirements.

Maryam Nawaz also described Pakistan's young population as one of its biggest assets, saying that giving young people the right skills and opportunities would strengthen the national economy.

The statements were political in character and no documents or case details were presented at the event. No response from opposition parties to the corruption claims or to the land recovery figures was available in the reports carried by either outlet.