Past rulers weakened provinces: Arbab Ghulam Rahim

NAWABSHAH: The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Sindh affairs, Arbab Ghulam Rahim said former rulers Mian Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari weakened provinces, despite passage of the 18th Amendment in the Constitution which ensured provision of more rights and powers to the provinces.

He said this while addressing a press conference at village Khadhar near Sakrand town. The SAPM said after the passage of the 18th Amendment, all funds were transferred to the provinces, but still the Sindh government makes hue and cry that the federal government has usurped all the funds. He said irrespective of he is elected or not in the forthcoming elections, he will keep highlighting the issues of people and stuggling for their solution.

He said he considered Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto great leaders but the PPP nowadays has been taken over by the fraudulent people. The former chief minister said the PPP and the PMLN won elections by using money but the PTI came to power through a popular vote. He said the PPP was worried when he joined the PTI.

He said the opposition panicked when Prime Minister Imran Khan announced to launch operation against drug mafias, saying that drug and gutka business is being openly run in Sindh.

The SAPM said he had apprised the prime minister of the attack on him in Tando Muhammad Khan and said that the attackers were drug dealers. He said he does not believe in replying to dirty language in the same style as he has come to serve the masses.

He said bribe and corruption is so widespread in Sindh that a valid property sale certificate cannot be obtained from the Mukhtiarkar office without paying bribe in return. Former Sindh adviser Ghulam Rasool Unar was also present on the occasion.