Musharraf offered me premiership: Shehbaz Sharif

F.P. Report

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has asserted on Wednesday that former president General (Retired) Pervez Musharraf offered him to serve as the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

The Chief Minister answered questions in a brief media interaction after a ceremony organised that witnessed an agreement between National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and Punjab Land Records Authority (PLRA).

Shehbaz Sharif said that Musharraf had offered him premiership but he had refused saying that it was not possible without a democratic setup.

On the occasion, Shehbaz said that good terms between ‘Rawalpindi and Islamabad’ were necessary for stability in Pakistan. While answering a question about corruption reference being heard against him in National Accountability Bureau (NAB), CM Shehbaz said that all provincial departments have been directed to forward record demanded.

He denied having influenced any department to not comply with NAB’s instructions.

Answering a question about the agreement between NADRA and land authority, the chief minister said that it was a result of team effort that led the government to end obsolete procedures and introduced digital registration and maintenance of land.

He commended the revolutionary changes in Punjab’s land record system and said the centuries old ‘Patwari culture’ (traditional method to record land in rural Punjab) is about to vanish.

Coming on corruption, Shehbaz said the provincial government has enormously curbed the corrupt practices in government departments of the province.

Taking credit for the reforms in land record system, the Punjab CM called upon the authorities to take stern action against corrupt officers.

Musharraf had ousted then premier Nawaz Sharif in 1999 to take over as the state ruler. Leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was exiled after his government was toppled.