Punjab Governor Makhdoom Syed Ahmed Mehmood has said that President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reposed trust in him by appointing him governor of the largest province of the country.

While addressing a large public gathering in Mehmood stadium here on Sunday, the Punjab governor expressed his gratitude to President Zardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and the PPP chairman for honouring him with governorship. Three sons of Punjab Governor namely Syed Mustafa Mehmood, Syed Murtaza Mehmood and Syed Ali Mehmood announced joining the PPP at the end of the public gathering.

Syed Mustafa was elected MNA and Syed Murtaza MPA in 2008 elections on PML-F tickets.Governor Makhdoom Mehmood claimed that today he was in front of the public not as a governor but as a well-wisher. He pledged to utilise the office of the Punjab Governor for the public service, saying that he would come up to the masses expectations. He stated that he would not take any privileges and official protocol as the Punjab governor and the doors of Governor's House would remain round the clock for the people of district Rahim Yar Khan including minorities.

Speaking on the occasion, former premier Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani asserted that the appointment of Makhdoom Ahmed as Punjab governor reflected the confidence of President Zardari in him and that it was for the first time that a person belonged to Rahim Yar Khan district had been made governor. The PPP will end the sense of deprivation prevailed among people of the region through the creation of a new province, adding that Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood would strengthen the voices for the rights of people of the region. "We will expose the opponents by tabling the demand for new province in the next meeting of the Parliamentary Commission for new provinces," Gilani pointed out, adding that let the time come the masses would see the real faces of the leaders who were deceiving the public through false claims.

He claimed that though he lost Premiership, he did not follow the 'unconstitutional act' and refused to write a letter to Swiss courts. The former prime minister was of the view that free, fair and transparent elections would be in favour of the PPP. He said that he would take up the issue of early work on Nishter Ghat Bridge at Chachran Sharif and Khawaja Fareed University at Rahim Yar Khan with PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. Yousuf Raza Gilani also called the three sons of Governor Makhdoom to dice and said that they would be the vanguard of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto in the future.

He declared that the president could not be removed at anyone's wish, adding that elections would be held on time and no one would be allowed to escape from elections. He also asked how the problems of southern Punjab would be solved without the creation of a separate province. The parliamentary commission would submit separate proposals over this separate province, he added.

In his speech, PPP MNA Javaid Warriach said that his party would secure all seats in the district and Ahmed Mehmood would lead them. He criticized the PML-N for issuing ticket for NA-196 to a candidate who changed different parties. He also mentioned that Nawaz Sharif had asked in a public gathering at the same stadium that if 'Shahi Loota' would won the seat, he would never allow him to join the PML-N, adding that Nawaz was issuing ticket for the NA seat to the same person.