Sethi deplores PPP leaders’ reaction to toddler’s death

Says victory in Lodhran important for Tareen and PTI, but won’t damage PML-N; Qaim taking hard line on Zardari’s instructions

LAHORE: Describing Jahangir Tareen’s victory in Lodhran as very important for him and the PTI, Najam Sethi on Wednesday said the defeat wouldn’t damage the ruling party.

There would be criticism on the PML-N’s strategy for the by-election, he said while expressing his views in Geo News programme ‘Aapas ki Baat’.

Sethi said “Tareen knows how to manage election campaign and spend money,” adding that he presented himself as a successful candidate and spent money on local media which benefited him.

On the other hand, Siddique Baloch’s attitude wasn’t good, thus damaging his reputation, he said, while pointing out that the PML-N’s strategy was inappropriate and the party’s vote shifted to the opponent because of local politics.

Explaining his point, Sethi said Baloch was actually an independent, not the PML-N candidate, and had grabbed the seat with the same status. Awarding party ticket to him angered local party supporters and some of them opted to favour Tareen, he added.

The rigging sloganeering by the PTI was no more an attraction and they could focus on politics only by disposing that of as soon as possible, Sethi noted.

He described the response of PPP leaders to the death of a toddler in Karachi as unfortunate and unacceptable, saying that the hospital administration and police were responsible for the incident.

According to Sethi, Bilawal has every right to visit the hospitals but the emergency wards should remain functional during such events. The chief minister and bureaucracy in Punjab are more sensitive to these matters. There are SOPs in the province for such scenarios, which are vigorously followed. But the situation in Sindh is different as the administration there is more inefficient and corrupt when compared with Punjab.

Citing his stint as caretaker chief minister, Sethi said he had directed his health minister to visit the hospitals without protocol and she followed the instructions during the period.

Sethi said the tension between the federal and Sindh governments would not reach a point where the Federation could opt to direct interference by using Article 149. Chaudhry Nisar knew it wasn’t a practicable option, while the provincial government too did not want to create a situation where the Centre was forced to use Article 149, he added.

According to Sethi, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would satisfy the Sindh chief minister in Islamabad and later visit Karachi to listen to the stance of every side party during the apex committee meeting, while explaining his point through hints.

Citing his sources, Sethi said both Nawaz and Nisar had no prior information about the arrest of Dr Asim and were unhappy over the development. The Rangers knew that the Centre would postpone the arrest, if consulted, while thinking that Dr Asim was going to leave the country in case he wasn’t detained, he said.

According to Sethi, Asif Ali Zardari has reprimanded Qaim Ali Shah over asking Dr Asim to return while giving assurances. The tough posturing by Qaim is a result of Zardari’s instructions, who knows the difference between hard line and read line. Zardari would not return to the country soon due to the prevailing situation.

The federal government would have to resolve the matter; otherwise, it would become an Achilles heel for it. There is no governance in Sindh at present as the PPP is busy in fuelling Sindhi nationalism.