KARACHI: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday demanded the immediate resignation of Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah while the latter said that the people of Sindh were “being treated like enemies”.
Earlier on Friday, PTI MPA Khurram Sher Zaman, while talking to the media, vowed to “upset the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government” in the province at any cost. “The joint investigation team’s (JIT) report submitted to the apex court proves that the PPP was involved in the worst form of corruption in Sindh and has no reason to rule now,” he added.
“The Sindh chief minister should resign after his name came forward in the JIT report,” Zaman said, adding that, “we will end PPP’s government in Sindh and the nation should prepare as PTI will form the government in the province”.
“We are not only demanding the provincial chief executive’s resignation as his name has been placed on the ECL but because he is behind a lot of these matters,” he said. “There has been corruption of billions of rupees in every department. We cannot wait for another five years and will raise our voice against them on every forum,” Zaman added.
Moreover, another PTI lawmaker Haleem Adil Sheikh said, “We are going to form the government in the province.” “Murad has been proven to be a very big thief and will have to resign. Assets and bank accounts of all those named in the JIT report should be seized,” he added. The PTI parliamentary leader in the Sindh Assembly further alleged, “The Rs7.5 billion subsidy that was given to farmers was also transferred in Omni Group’s bank account. A loan worth billions of rupees was taken from Sindh Bank which was transferred to Murad Ali Shah.” “Corruption of Rs530 million is just a part of it when the forensic audit of the last 10 years is conducted then more corruption will come forward,” Sheikh added.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda said, “Asif Zardari attacked the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday.” “The JIT has been formed by the apex court, if Zardari is not involved in any corruption then his name will be cleared, as no one is above the law,” Vawda added.
“Zardari used the term ‘favoured one’ but it is Nawaz Sharif who is the favoured one,” he added, while commenting on the former president’s address a day earlier.
On Thursday, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry had announced that the government has decided to place the names of all 172 suspects in the money laundering case on the no-fly list.
‘PEOPLE OF SINDH BEING TREATED LIKE ENEMIES’:
In light of PTI’s demand for his resignation, the provincial chief minister said that the “people of Sindh are being treated like enemies”.
While addressing a rally in Ghotki, he said, “People of Sindh were not allowed to actively participate in the election process.”
“They wanted to defeat the PPP in Sindh, but the people did not let that happen,” Shah asserted. “If Imran Khan had to be imposed then he should have at least been taught how to run a government,” CM Murad said. He further said that “Imran Khan’s wife reminds him that he is the prime minister of the country”, adding that “in the past two to three months, the government has proven what it is capable of”.
Shah further stated that “gas is being explored in Sindh but the province is being rejected its due share. The federal government wants to continue its enmity with the people of the province”. “Tax is collected on a federal level but not returned in the same manner,” he claimed.
“The locals have the first right on resources and we will grab our rights from the federal government and show to the people,” Shah said, adding that “the federal government is neither working nor letting us work”.
Meanwhile, Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister on Information, Law and Anti-corruption Barrister Murtaza Wahab said that no decision had been taken to change the chief executive of the province and the PPP would face all “frivolous and fabricated allegations contained in the JIT report to prove our innocence in the court of law”.
Talking to the media, he said that no one could step down on merely inquiry basis as there were inquiries pending against the prime minister, defence minister, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chief minister and others but none of them had resigned.