Most Sindh ministers submit resignations

KARACHI – Most provincial ministers belonging to the ruling PPP submitted their resignations to Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah at a meeting held at the Chief Minister’s House late Monday evening. Later, they also attended a farewell dinner hosted by the chief minister, also the PPP’s provincial president.
Speaking to journalists, MPA Sharjeel Memon – also the Sindh PPP Media Cell in charge – said that all PPP ministers have submitted their resignations to the chief minister. Official sources said the resignations were submitted under President Asif Ali Zardari’s directives, following the federal cabinet reshuffling as the government is also minimising the number of ministries in provinces under the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
Coalition partners – the MQM and the PPP – had agreed to curtail around fifty percent ministries by merging several inter-linked departments into each other. After the PPP ministers’ resignations, the chief minister would receive resignations from the ministers belonging to allied parties. The sources said the chief minister might soon convene a special meeting of the provincial cabinet.
Sources in the PPP told Pakistan Today that the president would finally decide about the re-inclusion of some of the PPP ministers or inducting new faces during his forthcoming visit.