Salik rejects reports of PML-N backing in NA-77 by-election
The federal minister repeats that corruption is Punjab's biggest problem as PML-Q denies any official backing for a candidate in Gujrat.
Federal minister and PML-Q leader Chaudhry Salik Hussain has rejected reports that he backed the PML-N candidate in the NA-77 Gujrat by-election and repeated his claim that corruption is the biggest problem in Punjab, Express News reported.
Salik said misleading reports had first been circulated about the Gujrat deputy commissioner, and that claims of support for the PML-N's Qazi Ibrahim Gujjar in the constituency followed. He said the aim was to pull attention away from the public's real problems and to dress the corruption issue up as a personal quarrel. Corruption should not be given the colour of political opposition or personal difference, he said, because the core issue is large-scale corruption.
A PML-Q spokesperson said neither Chaudhry Salik Hussain nor Chaudhry Shafay Hussain had formally announced support for any candidate in NA-77. The party's district organisation in the constituency decided at its own level not to back the PML-N candidate, and that decision should not be attributed to Salik or to the central leadership, the spokesperson said. PML-Q as a party has not yet taken an official decision on the by-election.
The spokesperson also said sustained criticism of Salik by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had left PML-Q workers angry, that discontent was reported among party workers in Gujranwala and elsewhere, and that local leaders had passed those reservations to the central leadership.
UrduPoint, carrying the same remarks, quoted Chaudhry Hussain Elahi asking who was claiming there was no corruption when "every child" knew what was happening in Suthra Punjab, and asking whether an aircraft costing Rs11 billion was more necessary than development in the constituencies. The headline also referred to Chaudhry Salik and the courts. UrduPoint's headline was truncated at that point and the full remarks could not be checked.
NA-77 in Gujrat district is going to a by-election, with the PML-N's Qazi Ibrahim Gujjar among the contenders. PML-Q is a coalition partner of the PML-N in the federal government, and Salik holds a federal portfolio.
How the reports differ
UrduPoint led on the corruption remarks, quoting Chaudhry Hussain Elahi on Suthra Punjab and asking whether an Rs11 billion aircraft was more necessary than development of the constituencies, with a reference to Chaudhry Salik and the courts that was cut off in its headline. Express News led instead on Salik's rejection of reports that he backed the PML-N candidate in NA-77 Gujrat, and carried the PML-Q spokesperson's denial that any formal endorsement was made. Only Express News reported the spokesperson's remarks that Maryam Nawaz's criticism of Salik had angered party workers and that the district organisation decided on the seat at its own level.
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