Federal Planning Minister Asad Umar Sunday said the government has decided to launch an agitation drive against the Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Act 2021. Addressing a press conference in Karachi, he said the Sindh local government law was in violation of Article 140 of the Constitution adding that as per Article 140, the Karachi local government was supposed to be autonomous. Federal Minister Mian Mohammad Soomro, Amir Bux Bhutto, Opposition leader in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Shaikh, Ghaus Ali Shah, Aftab Siddiqui and others were also present on the occasion. As a part of its protest drive, the PTI will take out a rally from Ghotki to Karachi on Feb 26 in which the central leadership of the ruling party will participate as well, said Umar, adding that the PTI will end the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) rule in Sindh, says a news report.
“We will form the government in Sindh in 2023,” he added. In order to ramp up momentum ahead of the march, Umar stressed the need for increasing contact with the people. He also urged corner meetings across Sindh.
Speaking about the PTI Sindh’s meeting, Asad said the sole purpose of this gathering was to launch a campaign to oust the PPP government in a coordinated manner.
He said despite the federal government’s offers of assistance, the Sindh government refused to do anything to provide healthcare to the people.
He said the PPP government had dampened the hope of the youth of Sindh, adding that jobs were given in the province on the basis of “parchi”.
The small-scale farmers have no access to water, Umar said.
He further stated that to provide water to the residents of Karachi, the federal government will give approval to the K-IV project on Tuesday after which the work on the project will kick-off.
The Sindh government is to blame for the delay in the project, he said, adding that the PTI will do all the development work in Karachi that the PPP couldn’t do.
Asad said he was disappointed to see the condition of the people in the Sindh province. He said the PTI was going to invite the people of the province to stand up for their rights and PTI will march on Karachi from Ghotki on February 26.
He said health was a basic necessity and keeping in view that point, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab governments had completed their work on it. But, the Sindh government is not taking it seriously.
Asad Umar said for the first time, the state was taking the responsibility for people’s treatment through Sehat Cards. He said the Sindh government had disappointed the youth. He further said that the jobs are given on chits.
Asad Umar said that small farmers are deprived of water. He said that the economic condition of the country could not get well until the situation of the metropolis return to the right path.
He said that they have to defeat PPP so as to remake Karachi, a city of lights. He said that every Pakistani is equal in the eyes of the Prime Minister Imran Khan.
President PTI Sindh chapter Syed Ali Haider Zaidi said that a mafia is ruling in the Sindh province instead of a political party. He said that during his visit to Larkana, Jacobabad, Kashmor and Sukkur last week, he found these cities, in bad condition.
He said that all political parties were united against Sindh’s draconian Local Government law.
“The expulsion of dacoit, which is Asif Ali Zardari, is inevitable now for Karachi to rebuild and Pakistan to prosper,” he said.
He said the parties taking part in the protest would unveil their demands at the end of the march that will culminate in Karachi.
He fired a broadside at the PPP government in Sindh, saying it always ran away from accountability “and that is the reason it did not nominate a single member from the opposition to the Public Accounts Committee.”
Zaidi claimed his party would dethrone the PPP in the next general elections, saying “our ascension to power is inevitable given the dismal performance of the PPP-led government in Sindh for years.”
