PPP senator flays Centre’s attempts to bypass Sindh govt

Karachi

Senator Saeed Ghani of the Pakistan People’s Party has questioned the federal information and interior ministers about the justification and legality of steps Sindh fears the federal government might take by overstepping its mandate and bypassing the elected assembly, government and chief executive of the province.

He raised this question in a press statement issued on Saturday evening after Federal Information Minister Senator Pervez Rashid released a statement and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan addressed a press conference in Islamabad earlier in the day over the lingering controversy concerning a decision to extend Sindh Rangers’ special powers in Karachi.

In his press conference, the interior minister hinted at certain extreme measures the federal government could resort to considering its obligations for fighting terrorism and lawlessness in Karachi in case the Sindh government further delayed its decision to grant an extension of the special anti-terror policing powers to the Rangers in the city for another term. 

The imposition of governor’s rule in the province could be one such extreme measure as a final resort to save the situation in Karachi from utter collapse.

Ghani termed the utterances of the two federal ministers on the issue of the Rangers’ powers uncalled for, saying that both unduly criticised the due steps taken by the provincial government to fulfil its constitutional formalities regarding the powers being delegated to the premier paramilitary force operating in Karachi.

The senator said the recent statements of the key ministers of the federal government had reaffirmed the viewpoint of the Sindh chief minister that not just federal agencies but also the federal government itself had been interfering in the affairs of the province. He said both the federal minister should explain their viewpoints regarding the validity of reservations expressed by the chief minister regarding certain actions of federal agencies in the province against basic mandate of these agencies.

Senator Ghani said the Sindh government had always supported launching strict action to deal with criminal elements in the province but nobody should be allowed to take extra-constitutional steps under the garb of such action.

He said that in case any extra-constitutional measure was taken, it would jeopardise the credibility and legality of all the steps so far taken by the government for combating terrorism.