Federal Minister for Law and Justice Maula Bukhsh Chandio on Monday said that Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s departure from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was for personal gains, and could be called “treachery” and not a “rebellion”. Talking to reporters at Allama Iqbal International Airport, he said that Qureshi used to express his unconditional support for the PPP as long as he was a foreign minister, but took a U-turn after quitting the ministry. He acknowledged that Qureshi had numerous disciples in Sindh, but added that they were spread across the province and not concentrated in a particular constituency.
Regarding Pakistan’s instructions to the United States to vacate the Shamsi airbase in 15 days, he said that it was premature to comment on the issue and that people should wait for the deadline to pass. He asked Nawaz Sharif to wait for the completion of the government’s five years term, and stop making calls for early elections. Replying to a question on the Accountability Bill, he said that not just the PPP, but the PML-N would also have to face corruption cases. Meanwhile, Federal Textiles Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin said that those trying to revive the Bahawalpur province were actually hatching a conspiracy against south Punjab. The minister, who is also the president of PPP-Punjab chapter, supported the formation of South Punjab as a separate province. In response to a question on Nawaz’s demand to revive the Bahawalpur province, he lashed out at the Punjab government for allocating less money for south Punjab in its annual budget. He said that Lahore’s annual development budget was 10 times higher than that of south Punjab.
