Islamabad is continued to bedecked with Pakistan People’s Party flags instead of the national flag as the country celebrated its 63rd independence anniversary. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) high officials, when contacted, stated that the flags were hoisted on the birth anniversary of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto; and were never removed subsequently.
The officials maintained that they had issued several notifications to the concerned political parties to remove party flags, but no action had been taken so far. On condition of anonymity, a CDA high official said that a construction firm, which was awarded a mega project in Islamabad in 2008, opted to hoist the flags on Shaheed Benazir Bhutto’s birthday.

“No CDA work force was used to put up these flags as the construction firm’s employees were used for the purpose”, a senior CDA official added. It may be recalled that the incumbent CDA Chairman, in his maiden contact with the media after the CDA budget was announced, had assured that all banners, flags and other advertisement material would be removed from the streets of Islamabad. “The PPP has hoisted its party flags and will take them off when they want. We cannot do any thing in this regard,” the CDA official said, showing his and the organisation’s helplessness before the ruling party.