KARACHI: After announcing a merger of his party Sindh National Front (SNF) with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) last week, former Sindh governor, and former Sindh chief minister, Mumtaz Bhutto said that the new political merger would only be successful and last if the PTI fulfilled its commitments to Sindh.
He said this while talking to media after a meeting with a PTI delegation led by Dr Arif Alvi here on Monday.
On the occasion, he said that the new alliance was based on an ideology and the decision about SNF’s merger with the PTI had been taken in the larger interest of the province. He also criticised the performance of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led provincial government and said that it was responsible for poor governance in the province.
He blamed bad governance for deteriorated institutions which caused the collapse of civic infrastructures in the province.
Answering a question about his chequered political history, in which he changed political loyalties at times, Mumtaz Bhutto said that he had always prioritised interests of Sindh in his political decisions. He also claimed that interest of Sindh had never been a priority of major political parties of the country.
He explained that he had joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for its agenda of development for Sindh. But, he added that unfortunately, the government of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had failed to fulfil its commitments.
He also said that he had informed PTI Chairman Imran Khan about the problems of Sindh and conveyed to him that his support for the PTI would continue only if his party fulfilled its commitments for Sindh.
On the occasion, PTI’s Alvi said that the merger of SNP with PTI was the beginning of a change in the political mindset of people of the province. He claimed that the people of Sindh had now realised that the PPP had always exploited them in the name of democracy and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
He also said that the people of Sindh were now looking towards Imran Khan with hope because they wanted honest leadership in the province. He further claimed that there was a political vacuum in the province and that the PTI progressed well in the province over the past year.
