There should be no worries about free and fair general elections, says Yusuf

Sindh’s caretaker information & archives minister said on Wednesday that there should be no apprehension from any of the political quarters regarding the holding of the July 25 general elections in the province in a neutral manner.

Talking to the media during his visit to the Karachi Press Club, Jameel Yusuf said that all the relevant laws should be duly implemented to ensure that the general elections will be conducted in a free and fair manner. He said the election-related laws should be uniformly implemented for all the concerned quarters.

Yusuf said a major change had been made in the provincial bureaucracy with the appointment of a new chief secretary as well as an inspector general of police in view of the upcoming general elections.

Further change in the provincial bureaucracy can be made if the need arises, he added. He also said that if there is any political interference in the working of the government, it should be pointed out. He clarified that he himself does not belong to any political party.

Sindh cabinet

The minister said that earlier, 17 names had been circulating on the social media website Facebook, suggesting that they were part of the incoming caretaker cabinet in the province, but none of them was included in the cabinet.

He said this in the context of certain former opposition political forces in the province, especially the anti-Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), who had objected to the names circulating in different media.

The objections were raised on the basis of alleged links of these probable cabinet aspirants with certain influential political parties of the province, including the PPP. Yusuf said that the GDA’s apprehensions regarding the forming of the caretaker cabinet in the province had been duly allayed.

‘No corruption’

He lamented that the elected provincial ministers did not bring about any improvement in the working of the information department. He made the assurance that during his two-month-long stint as minister, there will be no corruption in the working of the information department.

He said the details of payments by the provincial information department against newspaper advertisements will be posted on the department’s website. Media organisations that are not paying salaries to their employees should be black-listed and their cases sent to the court, he added.