PPP not behind MQM defections, says Chandio

Sindh Chief Minister’s Adviser on Information Maula Bux Chandio on Monday denied that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was behind the recent upheaval in the opposition Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), saying the PPP was accused of pursuing a reconciliatory policy towards the party therefore the charges against the Sindh government that it was encouraging MQM leaders to defect to Mustafa Kamal’s yet to be named party were baseless.

Talking to Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami on his talkshow DNA on Channel 24, Chandio said that the MQM’s allegation that the Sindh government and Sindh Rangers were forcing MQM’s jailed activists to join Mustafa Kamal were unfounded.

“Did the Sindh government force Mustafa Kamal to announce a new party? Was he in jail where we could have forced him to speak against MQM?”

Chandio said that the PPP government in Sindh was being wrongly accused of lack of governance as the law and order situation had improved considerably due to the Rangers operation in Karachi.

“All political parties endorsed the operation in Karachi and the PPP government is pursuing that objective with full vigour,” he said.

On PPP’s dismal performance in Punjab and other provinces, Chandio said that the party leadership in Punjab was responsible for the PPP’s poor performance in the province.

Chandio’s said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was working against the PPP as all federal institutions including National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) were carrying out action in Sindh.

“If PPP had reached a Muk Muka with the PML-N as alleged by critics, the Sindh government or PPP leadership would not be targeted through a witchhunt,” he said, lamenting that when NAB was about to target corruption in Punjab, the PML-N had launched a scathing attack against the accountability watchdog.

Chandio said that the previous PPP government in the Centre had offered itself for accountability by setting up the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly and appointing then opposition leader, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan as its chairman. “Today, Syed Khurshid Shah is raising questions over the government’s misdeeds in the PAC so it would be wrong to label PPP and Shah of playing the role of a friendly opposition to the government,” he said.