HYDERABAD: Sindh Minister for Information Saeed Ghani has cautioned — in the wake of arrest of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz vice president Maryam Nawaz — that any action against Sindh chief minister will be considered “vindictive” and part of the government’s “selective” accountability drive.

The party leadership was not engaged in any discussion on alternative names for chief minister’s office at present, said the minister while speaking to journalists after offering condolences to Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Tariq Shah Jamote on the death of his mother here on Thursday.

He said that he knew about ongoing inquiries against the chief minister and believed if the case was decided on merit nothing would be proved against him but if he was subjected to bias and selective accountability then it would be regarded as vindictive.

He claimed that at present Murad Ali Shah was the best and most competent chief minister among chief executives of all the provinces. He was performing his duties diligently and effectively, he said.

Mr Ghani saw the arrest of Maryam Nawaz as proof of federal government’s incompetence as it had come at a time when Pakistan badly needed unity and unanimity of views. If her arrest was that necessary, she could have been detained earlier because she was not leaving the country anytime soon, he said and added the government was apparently trying to divert attention of people and the world from Kashmir dispute.

He said that accountability process should be equal for everyone and believed that Pakistan was facing selective accountability because no one was laying hands on Khusro Bakhtiar and Pervez Khattak. Unless PTI leaders too were held accountable the impression of selective accountability would not go away.

The National Accountability Bureau chairman’s statement that if Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leaders were arrested the government would collapse, clearly showed that selective people were being harassed in the name of accountability, he said.

The minister offered apology over the inconvenience the Hyderabad residents suffered due to ineffective drainage system on and after July 29 rain and said that Hyderabad Electric Supply Company was primarily responsible for the power breakdown which contributed to the problem. The civic agencies could not arrange heavy generators to drain out rainwater during prolonged power breakdown, he added.

He said that Sindh chief minister had directed civic bodies to utilise their resources to drain out rainwater. Need of generators was badly felt and many sensitive spots were identified during last spell of rainfall in the city which would now get full attention.

The minister said the government was bracing for another challenge of rainfall that was likely to coincide with Eidul Azha. The rainwater could lead to serious problem if it was mixed with offal and other waste of slaughtered animals.

He appealed to people to sacrifice their animals in open grounds instead of streets and localities so that disposal of waste and offal could be ensured.

He said that PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had constituted a five-member committee to probe voting in Senate for no-trust motion against chairman. The committee had held its first meeting which decided to hold its proceedings in camera, he said.

PPP central information secretary Moula Bux Chandio, MPA Abdul Jabbar Khan and others were also present.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2019