Daily Times

Demanding resignation of Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry Tuesday advised Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to bring about change in the province by replacing the incumbent chief minister or federal government will itself take ‘practical measures’ to achieve the objective.

“Government wants PPP to bring change themselves. If PPP fails to bring any change in Sindh, and if Murad Ali Shah does not resign himself, then the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will need to take practical steps,” Chaudhry warned while talking to media persons here. “Murad Ali Shah is the jinn of Omni Group’s ‘magic lamp’ with which Zardari group, rulers in Sindh, launder money abroad in the blink of an eye. He says to his party leadership: ‘what can I do for you, my lord?'” he remarked.

The minister said that the federal government supports the present setup in Sindh but some serious lawmakers of the PPP have approached the PTI to come forward for bringing a change in the province. When asked about the possibility of the PTI forming a forward bloc in the PPP to remove the provincial government, Chaudhry responded that any person who carries the pain of the people of Sindh in his heart will want change in the province no matter what party he belongs to.

“We want to give PPP an opportunity to improve the situation in Sindh. If the money given to Sindh had been utilised honestly, the province would have been completely transformed by now,” the minister said. “Karachi is in dire straits. There’s no money for development projects,” he lamented, adding tat the funds given to the Sindh government for development projects were instead sent abroad. “Nobody would have any complaints if the funds issued for Sindh were utilized for their welfare,” he remarked, and lamented that even the constituency of provincial chief minister lacks basic facilities as Murad Ali Shah is working against the interest of the electorate.

Fawad said Biwal Bhutto Zardari was still a ‘child’ and the children are always ‘apolitical’. I believe he has nothing to do with the situation in Sindh,” he added.

The minister pointed out that Sindh had not contributed to the National Finance Commission award for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) although other provinces and the federal government had given their share for its development. “Although PPP paints itself as a champion of democracy, when the time for action came, it disassociated itself from FATA,” he added.

Stating that the PTI shares the happiness and grief of the people of Sindh, the minister announced that the federal government would soon launch water projects in the province.

Replying to a question on a news item about PTI bank accounts, he said that it was a fake news and the party has already contradicted it.

Barrister Murtaza Wahab, adviser to Sindh chief minister on information, law and anti-corruption, fired back at Fawad Chaudhry’s remarks, saying the information minister ‘should keep his advice to himself’. “If PTI is so keen on helping Sindh, it should immediately fulfil the provincial government’s constitutional demands,” he responded.

Wahab claimed that the federal government is yet to release Rs 90 billion to the people of Sindh. “PPP leaders are possessed by the jinn to serve the people of Sindh,” he remarked. “If Fawad Chaudhry is visiting Karachi as a viceroy, it is not acceptable to us. If he has come here to do some good, then we appreciate that,” he added.

Published in Daily Times, January 16^th 2019.