News
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Emotional outburst by PPP MNA embarrasses govt* Zafar Ali Shah dubs Sindh chief minister a helpless person in face of circumstances
By Tanveer Ahmed
ISLAMABAD: Another bout of embarrassment struck Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led government in Lower House of parliament on Wednesday, when one of its seasoned lawmakers from Sindh, Syed Zafar Ali Shah, lashed at it over the revival of local government system 2001 in Sindh and its ally, ANP, staged a walkout on the second consecutive day.
A dull session of the National Assembly (NA), on Wednesday, showed least interest in debating law and order situation in Karachi and Quetta, the sole item on its agenda in the present session, and talked more about the local government system and creation of new provinces, which generated a heated debate in the House.
Syed Zafar Ali Shah, a soft spoken politician from Sindh, declared in an angry tone that Sindh did not want to see Dr Babar Awan and Rehman Malik – two top aides of Zardari and leading figures in issues related to Karachi - on it soil for what he said surrendering the interests of Sindh.
Shah added that the government had been made hostage by a particular party. He said this was evident from the abolition of commissioner system in Sindh, which, he said, people of the province had rejected and vowed to protest against it.
Shah said that nazims under the district governments had a partisan approach.
He, in his outburst, even didn’t spare the MQM, which he said just honoured orders of its sector in charges. He dubbed Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah a helpless person, saying, he could not exercise his authority and powers.
Zafar Baig Bhitani, FATA MNA, deplored that at a time when the assembly was discussing law and order situation in Karachi and other related issues, the decisions were taken at Sindh’s Governor House, which rendered the entire debate redundant.
He said the government was bent upon creating a breathing space for itself by pitting different communities against each other on linguistic basis.
PPP’s Jamshed Dasti, speaking on new federating units, said that creation of a province in south Punjab was directly related to the survival of Pakistan. He warned that if demand of people of the area was not accepted, they would be forced to take up arms against Takhat-e-Lahore. PML-N’s Mahmood Bashir Wirk, reiterating the party’s policy, called for new provinces on administrative basis.
JUI-F Laiq Mohammad Khan, commenting on ANP’s Afrasyab Khattak’s demand for carving out southern Pakhtunkhwa province in Balochistan, asked the ANP leader to first heed to the demand of people of Hazara for a separate province in KP before talking about a province for Pakhtuns in Balochistan.
Usman Advocate, MNA from Balochistan, declared that Baloch people would not allow Quetta to be axed from Balochistan. He also criticised PML-N, JUI-F and MQM for staging walkouts from the House on loadshedding, gas and Karachi but not on worst law and order situation in Balochistan. Lawmakers from the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas called for taking them into confidence on FCR regulations in FATA.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk