'Resign if you have differences with govt': Hanif Abbasi tells defence czar

• Don't try to discredit hard work done by CM: Abbasi.
• Minister lashes out at Asif over hybrid system remarks.
• "You are very much part of this government," he adds.
  

Federal Minister for Railways Hanif Abbasi on Tuesday surprised fellow lawmakers in the National Assembly by indirectly criticising senior party colleague and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif for the speech he delivered a day earlier.

Without naming Asif directly, Abbasi advised that those in government should refrain from adopting an opposition-style tone. 

"You are part of the system for the last 40 years which you are saying is not on the right path," Abbasi said, adding that it did not suit a member on the treasury benches to speak like this, reported The News.

The railways minister advised the defence minister to resign if he had any differences with the government. "I also witnessed precedents in the past that if any minister had differences with government policies, he resigned but remained part of the treasury benches," he said.

Abbasi advised Asif that if he could not deliver in his constituency, then he should accept the responsibility. "Do not try to discredit the hard work done by the prime minister and chief minister for the sake of going viral," he said, adding that bureaucracy is often criticised here.

The MNA from Rawalpindi said that he could not understand when a treasury member says it was a hybrid system, starts abusing bureaucrats, and says there is no local government system. It is better to sit on the opposition than. "Have some fear of Allah Almighty, you are very much part of this government. This trend should come to an end," he said.

Abbasi said that he would never say that he is not responsible for encroachments in Rawalpindi and other problems in the city. "I can claim that Rawalpindi city is in a much better position amid heavy rains," he said.

Abbasi said that he led many development projects in Rawalpindi, but never blackmailed any contractors and made them do quality work.

His remarks come after Asif told the National Assembly that a contractor who belongs to his city — Sialkot — and now a member of the Senate, sold out plots on land of nullahs and riverbeds and played havoc with nature.

He said that everybody knows how he reached the Upper House. "What you expect from the common man if such are the deeds of the political elite," he said.

Asif also questioned as to how much land had been retrieved from mafia and encroachments removed in the last three years.

At the same time, he called for devolution of power across the country and said that local government system should be strengthened. "We need a comprehensive and robust local government system which can serve people at their doorsteps," he said.

He regretted that every government has been using the local government system as a tool to serve its interests.

He mentioned that there has been no real devolution of power as the powers remain concentrated in provincial capitals particularly in the Punjab province.