MIRPURKHAS: Pakistan Peoples Party’s co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said the country is facing multiple problems due to inefficient federal government.

He was speaking at a public meeting at the Gama Stadium here on Friday on the occasion of party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s (ZAB) 90th birth anniversary.

The meeting was attended by a large number of people amid strict security arrangements.

“ZAB initiated the country’s nuclear programme. Had he been alive today, the country would have been out of crisis,” said Mr Zardari.

“The masses still love ZAB because he fought for their rights. I am trying my best to implement his vision.”

The former president claimed that his government in Sindh had completed more development schemes than any other provincial government.

“The PPP is the party of downtrodden people. It is constructing power plants and airport in Tharparkar district. The country is in a crisis and only the PPP can take it out of it. Whenever we try to raise the voice for the poor, we are sent to jails,” said the PPP co-chairman.

“Nawaz Sharif obliged some friends and helped them establish their industries.”

He said Murad Ali Shah would again be the chief minister of Sindh after the general election.

Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, on the occasion, said his government on the directives of Asif Zardari spread development works all across Sindh.

He reiterated that the federal government was responsible for the present sugar cane crisis because it did not let them export 550 tonnes of sugar though he had requested the prime minister several times. “Had sugar mills not had enough sugar in their warehouses, they would have started crushing,” he said.

He alleged that the federal government had taken more loans than any other previous governments.

Earlier, PPP Sindh president Nisar Khohro, Senator Hari Ram Kishori Lal, ex-chief minister Qaim Ali Shah, opposition leader Khursheed Shah, district president and MNA Munawar Ali Talpur, Zulfikar Ali Shah, provincial minister Imdad Pitafi, Manzoor Wassan and others also spoke.

On the occasion, MNA Nawab Yousuf Talpur, Faisal Salah Hayat, ex-MNA Pir Aftab Hussain Shah Jilani, Ali Mardan Shah, Engineer Gianchand, Senator Aajiz Dhamra, MNA Shazia Marri, MPA Rais Noor Ahmed Bhurgari, ex-MPA Shamim Aara Panhwer, MPA Khairun Nisa Mughal, MPA Nusrat Sultana Khowaja, Robina Kaimkhani, Mirpurkhas district council chairman Anwer Ali Talpur, Azmina Nazeer Chandio, Junaid Buland, Liaqat Shahani, Shafique Ahmed Mahesar and DIG Mazhar Nawaz Shaikh were also present.

On Thursday night, during his stay at the residence of Hari Ram Kishori Lal, Asif Zardari met with different delegations and held meetings with PPP lawmakers and office-bearers to formulate strategy for upcoming election.

Karachi celebrations

At a function held at the Peoples Secretariat in Karachi on Friday to commemorate the birth anniversary, PPP leaders paid homage to the late Mr Bhutto.

Presided over by PPP Karachi chapter president Saeed Ghani and addressed by Punjab’s former governor Latif Khosa, secretary general Javed Nagori, Shehla Raza and others, the speakers said the current Constitution was formulated by Mr Bhutto.

“Neither Nawaz Sharif nor Imran Khan can match the legacy of Bhutto. Bhutto’s murder was an irreparable loss to the country. His foreign policy was exemplary. We are missing his leadership in the present crisis,” they said.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2018