KARACHI: Accusing the Pakistan Peoples Party of governing the province through strong-arm tactics, Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday hinted at the fall of the PPP’s Sindh government.

“There is a goonda rule in Sindh whose elimination is necessary,” said the information minister while speaking at a press conference here. “It is yet to be seen how many days it [the PPP government] would last as bank accounts having billions of rupees are being found [here] in the name of rickshaw drivers and vendors.”

His remarks drew a strong reaction from the Sindh government, as Information Adviser Murtaza Wahab asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to clarify his minister’s indication regarding the “end of the Sindh government”.

However, when asked about the possibility of the imposition of governor’s rule, Mr Chaudhry said there was no need for governor’s rule in Sindh as the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had already become popular here and would get a two-thirds majority in the Sindh Assembly in the next elections.

Says no need for governor’s rule; PPP slams indication about end of Sindh govt

In reply to a question, he said that the present PPP was not the party of the Bhuttos, but of Asif Ali Zardari’s.

He said he met PTI parliamentarians who lodged strong complaints against the Sindh government for initiating actions against them.

He said strong-arm tactics and “ethnic politics” had been the tradition of the PPP, but thanks to the PTI the menace of ethnic politics had been eliminating and the people of Sindh were being brought into the mainstream.

Sindh got Rs750bn in 10 years

He claimed that the federal government had given Rs750 billion to the Sindh government during the past 10 years.

He asked the provincial government that where it had utilised such a huge amount of “Rs75,000 crore”.

He said that the federal government had started taking measures to solve the problems of Karachi.

“We are improving infrastructure of Karachi and we hope that clean water supply issue would soon be solved as talks in this connection were in progress with the UAE government,” he added.

He said everyone was aware of the performance of the Sindh police but if the federal government talked about it, it was termed “interference in the provincial autonomy”.

He said the federal government wanted to take the Sindh government along because if it did not cooperate with the provincial government there would be a lot of hurdles for the latter. However, the rulers of Sindh ought to realise their responsibilities, he added.

The federal minister ruled out any compromise with the PPP and PML-N, saying they had to face cases as the federal government was not offering them any NRO.

He said Imran khan had ushered revolution of middle and lower middle class in the country. He also said that the complaint cell being set up in the Governor House would be linked the compliant cell of the prime minister’s house.

Meets Sindh governor

The information minister exchanged views pertaining to facilities extended to entrepreneurs, federal-funded development projects in Karachi, the federal government’s development package for Karachi and its progress and other matters of mutual interest with the Sindh governor.

Speaking on the occasion, Governor Ismail said that after restoration of law and order, the situation was quite conducive for investment in the province.

He said that infrastructure in Karachi would certainly improve with the implementation of the federal government-funded development projects.

He also said that the federal cooperation with the provincial and local governments would continyue for the development of the province.

Mr Chaudhry said the dream of a new Pakistan under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan would certainly be materialised.

Centre’s design against Sindh exposed: Wahab Irked by Mr Chaudhry’s statement, Chief Minister’s Adviser on Information and Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab said that the indication about the end of the Sindh government by the federal minister was regrettable.

He said that Mr Chaudhry should not count the days of the Sindh government but take care of his government’s performance in the federation.

He said that the federal minister by issuing such sensational statements wanted to divert the attention of the people from his government’s incompetency.

By mentioning the end of the Sindh government, Mr Chaudhry had exposed the design of the federal government, he added.

Also, Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani said that “Fawad Chaudhry should not become ‘Fasad Chaudhry’ and should hear it with open ears that provinces are autonomous”.

He asked Mr Chaudhry where he was when the federation remained hostage for three days and “Imran Khan Niazi had surrendered before those who had abused the judiciary and the army”.

He said that the mandate of Karachi was stolen and given to the PTI.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2018