Criticising the Sindh Assembly speaker for not allowing the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) lawmakers to discuss the water shortage issue in the urban Sindh, particularly Karachi, the MQM-P on Friday demanded that the Sindh High Court chief justice form an inquiry commission to investigate corruption committed by the Sindh government during the last 13 years and the issues in the supply and distribution of water in the urban Sindh.
In a statement, the MQM-P spokesperson said the office of the speaker was impartial. He added that being the custodian of the Sindh Assembly, it was his responsibility to accommodate everyone in the House.
“But, sadly, the conduct of the speakers of the Sindh Assembly during the past 13 years is an indication that the Sindh Assembly is the representative of the rural Sindh, and it has nothing to do with the problems of the urban Sindh and is not ready to listen to the pleas of their representatives,” the party said.
The MQM-P spokesperson added that the party’s lawmakers on Saturday sought permission to discuss a resolution on the water issues in the urban areas of Sindh, especially Karachi, as they wanted to draw the government's attention to an important issue, but the speaker stopped them from speaking.
“It seems that the government is not interested in any legislation for the betterment of the residents of the urban Sindh and the speaker has also no interest [in that],” the statement read.
The MQM-P alleged that all legislation in the Sindh Assembly had been made for the domination of the rural Sindh over the urban Sindh or to perpetuate and strengthen the looting and corruption of the provincial government, and in the meantime, the people of Sindh's urban areas, especially Karachi, were deprived of basic amenities and were longing for a drop of water.
The party demanded that the SHC chief justice form a commission for an inquiry into the corruption committed by the Sindh government during the last 13 years, and the system of supply and distribution of water in the urban Sindh.
Ghani reacts
Lambasting the opposition for its protest in the Sindh Assembly on Friday, Sindh Education and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani said the MQM-P and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPAs resorted to protest as a face-saving tactic.
He said this while talking to media persons outside the Sindh Assembly soon after the House was adjourned after brief proceedings owing to the vocal protest by the opposition legislators on the water crisis in Karachi.
The recent by-elections in Malir and Baldia Town had caused much humiliation to the two opposition political parties in the province, Ghani remarked as he claimed that that the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party was the only political party in the province that had raised concerns over the public issues related to water, electricity, and gas shortage in Sindh.
He blamed the ill-advised policies of the federal government for these persisting problems related to essential utility services in the province. “If they claim that they are bona fide representatives of the people of Sindh, they should first resign from their [federal] ministries,” Ghani advised the PTI and MQM-P.
He also criticised the opposition for what he said political point-scoring by demanding a new province or the governor’s rule in Sindh. He said the opposition for no reason was criticising the Sindh government for curtailing the business hours of the markets in Karachi by a mere two hours daily due to the lockdown regime imposed against the spread of Covid-19. The opposition parties had earlier raised no concern when the lockdown restrictions had been tightened in Lahore creating a curfew-like situation in the capital of Punjab, he added.