Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said his government was against the postponement of the second phase of local bodies elections in the province, which had earlier been scheduled to be held on July 24, but all of a sudden the decision was taken to put off the polls to August 28 though the provincial government had assured the Election Commission of Pakistan of its full support and assistance in holding the polls timely.
This the CM said while talking to media just after attending the concluding ceremony of the annual Urs of Abdullah Shah Ghazi. Replying to a question, the CM said his government was keen to conduct the second phase of the local bodies’ elections. “We had told the election commission that the provincial government would work with them even if heavy downpour occurred in some parts of Dadu districts,” he said and added the court had also dismissed the application filed for postponement, but even then the [local bodies] elections were postponed.
Refuting the impression that some political parties were staging protests against the Sindh government over the postponement of the elections, the CM said they were protesting against those who had decided to postpone the polls.
Replying to a question, Shah said the party that had a majority in the Punjab Assembly would be able to form the government. “This is a baseless allegation and propaganda that we [the PPP] have sent money to Punjab for horse trading,” he said and added this was an unfounded allegation similar to one levelled in 2018 that Rs2 billion being sent abroad through launches were seized and then another allegation came up that millions of rupees were recovered from the basement of a bungalow.
The CM mentioned about a leaked telephone call of a former federal minister in which he was heard asking a person to give money to a PML-N MPA.
“He [the minister] admitted what he had said even then that the baseless allegations are levelled against the PPP leadership,” he deplored and added that the Sindh House was being defamed for nothing.
Shah said the present federal government had taken difficult and unpopular decisions just to save the country from bankruptcy. “We are committed to this country and its people; otherwise, we would have left the country in the lurch,” he said.
To a question about illegal immigrants of Afghanistan living in the city creating law & order, the CM said miscreants and troublemakers were deliberately talking about Afghan nationals just to flare up ethnic tension.
“It is a fact that various Afghanis are living in Sindh, but all of them are not illegal and most of them have work permits,” he said and added those who were living here illegally were being sent back.
Shah said the people responsible for creating linguistic problems at Sohrab Goth and in Hyderabad would face the music soon. “We are conducting an inquiry and would identify them,” he said. Earlier, the chief minister laid a floral wreath on the tomb of Abdullah Shah Ghazi and offered dua to conclude the annual Urs.
