May 05, 2008	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 28, 1429

KARACHI, May 4: Sindh Minister for Information Shazia Marri has said that the Pakistan People’s Party is committed to bringing about prosperity in the province and for the purpose, it preferred to take along other parties which is also in the greater national interests.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, she expressed her confidence that Sindh would greatly benefit from the PPP-MQM coalition, indicating that peace-loving people had appreciated the power-sharing deal between the two major political parties. “It’s time to forgive, forget and build anew,” she remarked.The minister strongly criticised Sardar Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, leader of the Sindh National Front, for opposing the PPP-MQM coalition, and argued that the situation obtaining in the province demanded from all political parties to do issue-based politics and refrain from pursuing a policy of confrontation.

She recalled that it was the caretaker government headed by Sardar Mumtaz Ali Bhutto which had signed the NFC Award in 1996 that deprived Sindh of its due rights.

“The award drastically reduced Sindh’s share from 80 to 37.5 per cent and increased the federation’s share from 20 to 62.5 per cent,” she added.—APP