PPP to oppose bid to turn Karachi into PTI colony

KARACHI: Chairman Pakistan People's Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has warned that his party will vehemently oppose the PTI’s federal government if it makes attempts to make Karachi a federal colony while saying that in case any unconstitutional step to wrest the control of Karachi gets judicial cover, then it would be tantamount to an attack on Sindh.

Addressing a press conference at the Sindh Assembly building on Thursday, the PPP chairman said that instead of uniting the nation during the coronavirus pandemic, the government is trying to snatch away the resources of the people adding that the PPP’s choice had been clear since its inception as we prefer people and their rights over power, motherland over government. Our leadership walked proudly to the gallows instead of compromising on peoples’ rights and national interests in the past and the legacy lives on even today. “Whenever it comes to national importance, the PPP has worked for the national interest by keeping politics above the fold,” he claimed at the press conference attended among others by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and his cabinet members Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Saeed Ghani, Murtaza Wahab and MPA Munawar Wassan.

The PPP chairman claimed that the root of all the current problems in Sindh lies in the issue that it had not been continuously getting the due share in the NFC while other provinces have also not been given their fiscal right. Last year, there were talks to reduce the share of Sindh in the Federal Divisible Pool by Rs116 billion and this year the share has been reduced by more than Rs200 billion and this is being done with every province.

The PPP chairman pointed out that after the 18th Amendment, the provinces have been given more work and responsibilities, so the share of the provinces in the NFC should be increased for further improvement in the lives of people. “If more share is given in the NFC, then work will be done for the betterment of public health, education, local government and other systems but the federal government is not ready to give that right,” he added.

He said that every time when nations go through a disaster, a global pandemic, be it the presidential, parliamentary or any other system, they stand united whatever the system of government is. “Unfortunately, even in the coronavirus pandemic situation in Pakistan, the rights of the people are being snatched and seeds of disunity are being sown,” he stated.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari further said that when the unprecedented monsoon rains hit the province, which had not occurred in 10 years, they caused problems in Karachi like Ghotki, Thatta and other areas as it was definitely a matter of concern for him.